


Love is a Jungle

by Miakoda



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017), The Three Caballeros (1944)
Genre: Conman José Carioca, Ducktales AU!, Love Triangles, M/M, Rivalry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-11-05 09:07:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17915921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miakoda/pseuds/Miakoda
Summary: The Duck family follows a new clue on the city of El Dorado, to Rio de Janeiro. There, they meet suave parrot José „Zé“ Carioca who offers them to show them around his wonderful city. Unbeknownst to them, he's a conman with the intention of swindling them out of their money. However, not long after they also meet the eccentric Mexican rooster Panchito Pistoles, who had already made the displeasure of acquainting the green feathered pick-pocket.While the family did need a guide while travelling through Brazil and up into the Amazon, and with José being the best option, they were still unsure whether to trust him or not. Thank god for Panchito, who had decided to join them on their little quest and keep a sharp eye on the conman of a green parrot.And in the midst, was one Donald Duck who, to the surprise of his family, managed to wrap both Latin birds around his little finger.Cue, the start of a fierce battle between the two hot-blooded and passionate Latinos, the triplets growing jealous of the two birds that hogged their uncle’s attention and worrying that they would take him away from them, and the others just watch with mixed emotions.





	1. Rio and José "Zé" Carioca

**Author's Note:**

> So, I was only recently able to watch the new Ducktales reboot, and I love it. The character writing is so damn good, especially Donald's. The three Caballeros episode was, of course, my favourite episode so far and probably will be. Thrown into a little (read: big) obsession with the three, I wanted to write something on them because honestly there are nearly not enough fanfictions about them. 
> 
> My story though will take another approach on the coming together of the three. I got the idea from a little fan-comic on Tumblr in which the artist portrayed José and Panchito starting-off with not liking each other because José tried to play him for money. Panchito then took it upon himself to join Donald and José's tour to keep José from taking advantage of Donald's trust (unfortunately I don't remember the artist's name though I'll try to find it again so that I can add the link.) This concept was also canon in the comics(?).  
> Anyway this AU! still takes places in the DuckTales 2017 universe, sometime after the Shadow War in the second season. However, the Three Caballeros have not met each other before this event.
> 
> But without spoiling the story any further I let you get on with actually reading it. I hope you enjoy it!  
> Comments are always welcome.
> 
> Attention:  
> English is not my first language, so there may be grammatical errors or not entirely correct usage of English expressions. Also, the Portuguese and the Spanish in this story will be written with the help of google translate, because unfortunately, I don't know any. If there are things I could improve on don't hesitate to point them out to me.

Rio de Janeiro, the unofficial capital city of the South American country that was Brazil. Burning hot sun, clear blue ocean, good music, passionate dancing and wild parties all year long.

And that’s exactly where the Duck clan found itself during their newest adventure.

A few days ago, Scrooge had found a map that gave clues to the location of the legendary city of gold, El Dorado. Of course, Scrooge, being the gold-obsessed treasure hunter that he is, didn’t hesitate a second to prepare everything for their trip. The triplets and Webby were excited as always, of course.

And Donald had once again been robbed into joining them. But for now, he was enjoying the first part of this new adventure, looking around the beautiful sunny city with wide and enchanted eyes. He had always wanted to come to Rio and travel around South America. So, in the end, it wasn’t really that hard to persuade him into coming with them after all, once they mentioned that they would start their treasure hunt in the famous city of music and samba, Rio de Janeiro.

„Too bad that we didn't come here during carnival season, I would have liked seeing the parade and the dancing and music“ sighed Donald a little in disappointment, yet still smiling widely as the warm ocean wind caressed his white feathers.

They were walking along the famous Copacabana following Scrooge who led them towards a museum where he hoped to get some further clues on the location of El Dorado. Fortunately, the museum wasn’t that far away from the hotel they had booked for their short stay here and arrived there in a matter of only twenty minutes.

„Maybe we could come back one day? I would like to see it as well“ asked Dewey hopefully, his brothers and Webby nodding alongside him in agreement.

Donald chuckled, „We’ll see about that, but I surely wouldn’t mind.“

In front of the group, Scrooge let out a triumphant ‚AHA!‘ once he found the building that he had been looking for. He turned around to his nephews, Webby and Launchpad, „Alrigh’ lads and lass. The museum is right over there, so let’s get a move on.“

Louie groaned loudly, „Do we all have to go with you? I mean, we’re in Rio! You can’t expect us to visit Rio and not spent some time at the beach!”

Louie then steepled his fingers together and gave his best impression of the puppy dog eyes at his great-uncle, “So, while you can go and learn about the treasure and where to find it, we others could go and spend some time at the beach or get something to drink?“

„Don’t you want to learn anything about the history and the mysteries behind the golden city?“ asked Huey incredulously, not understanding how someone couldn’t be interested in learning such fascinating mysteries.

Louie graced his older brother with a slow, bored blink, before placing a hand on his shoulder and sighing disappointedly, „I thought you knew me better, big bro. I don’t care about the stories behind it as long there’s money. Even if that concerns the city of gold. So, I would rather spend my day chillin’ at the beach or seeing the city.“

His brothers and Webby rolled their eyes at him. Typical Louie.

Donald looked contemplatively down at the children before looking at his uncle, who eyed his green-clad great-nephew with an amused smirk.

„I agree with Louie,“ Donald then admitted, causing everyone to look up at him in surprise, especially Louie. It was extremely rare for their overprotective and kind of boring uncle to agree with them on something, especially when it concerned something that either he or Dewey proposed. Most of the time, they were regarded as the irresponsible little brothers, especially when directly compared to their order-enthusiast of an older brother, Huey.

Donald shrugged his shoulders, as he nonchalantly explained „I didn’t come because of the treasure. Since I’m most likely going to be the one suffering through it all the most, once we actually start the treasure hunt, I at least want to enjoy myself as much as possible and get to see the city.“

He sounded a little bitter at the reminder that their expedition to El Dorado would most likely end up in him losing a few feathers, just like every adventure before did. Louie smiled up at his uncle, for once feeling like someone really got him. Usually, it was him getting the worst out of those adventures as well. He turned to look at his Uncle Scrooge and nodded once, „What, Unca Donald said.“

Scrooge huffed both in annoyance and indignation, „Fine, whatever. Someone who wants to join me then?“

Webby and Huey instantly lifted their hands excitedly, while Dewey seemed unsure whom to join at first. But, in the end, he decided to go with his younger brother, Uncle Donald and Launchpad. He was sure that Webby and Huey will tell him about what they had learned later on anyway.

And with that, the groups parted ways for the time being. The trio clad in red and pink going towards the museum while the other four stayed and looked around to see what they should do first.

„What do you guys want to do first?“ asked Donald his two kids. He tried to hide his excitement, though going by the wide smile he had on his face because of the very same reason, he knew that he was failing. But his children seemed to like seeing him act like a giddy child for once.

Louie and Dewey looked at each other, obviously having a telepathic conversation that twins and triplets were known for.

„How about we go look around the city a little? I mean the beach doesn’t run away“ proposed Dewey with a small smile. The brothers grinned at each other when hey saw their paternal figure visibly brighten up at the prospect of seeing Rio.

„Let’s go then!“ he said and ushered the children towards the tourist districts of the Copacabana.

—————————————

The streets of Rio were filled with music and dancing people, and in its midst, the four ducks were looking around in pure elated fascination. Everything was so colourful and melodious, unlike in Duckburg.

„Makes you wonder how it will be once it’s actual carnival season,“ wondered Dewey as he stared at two toucans dancing the samba.

„Hey, this place is amazing! Look at what I got!“ exclaimed Launchpad excitedly, suddenly beside them once more after he had run over to some stall. In his hands, he held what looked like a pair of maracas. He then proceeded to shake them cheerfully to the beat of the music that surrounded the street. The brothers laughed at the man-child’s obvious enjoyment of playing the simple musical instruments.

Louie took a sip from his green, apple-flavoured slushy, that his uncle had provided them with, as he diverted his gaze from the dancing Launchapd towards said uncle, who was only a few feet further down the street, looking at a t-shirt display with enraptured curiosity sparkling in his blue eyes.

The fletching had never seen him like that, so relaxed and eager for anything. All the other times his uncle would be way too overprotective of them, never relaxing even a muscle when they were under his wings, nor had he ever looked moderately interested in something before. Well, that was until they told him about their planned trip to Rio de Janeiro. 

Louie had to admit, he rather liked seeing this side of his uncle. After everything, their mother’s disappearance, raising them alone, Scrooge, the Shadow War and what else, he did deserve to let loose sometimes. And seeing him like this made him realise how much their uncle had actually given up on, just so that he could focus on taking care of them without any kind of distraction. 

He watched with a small smile as Donald moved away from the stall with a friendly smile of his own directed towards the clerk of the small stall who returned it right back, tipping his hat in farewell. What he didn’t see, though, was the group of dancing parrots that had formed only a few feet away.

Louie already knew what was going to happen but he still couldn’t help but cringe as he watched his uncle being thrown into the complicated dance with a loud undignified quack of surprise leaving his beak, only to end up stumbling as he tried to get out of the dancing circle again. Louie was sure that he would see his uncle doing one of his infamous face plants again, but he did not count on someone actually catching his uncle’s embarrassing descent to Mother Earth.

~~~***~~~

Donald was sure that he would face-plant the ground and thus officially putting an end to his short-lived luck. So far for today, he had managed to not embarrass himself in front of everybody by not tripping over his own two feet, and he had thoroughly enjoyed it, nearly revelling in as long as that small streak of good luck held on.

Well, there was that small incident with that red rooster back in the hotel, but that was as much the other male’s fault as Donald’s own, as the both of them hadn’t been looking where they had been going. Said rooster had been really friendly as well and had helped him stand up again with a wide apologetic smile on his rather handsome face. He apologized for his inattentiveness ‚ _¡Lo siento, mi amigo!_ I wasn’t looking where I was going! Here, let me help you up, _amigo_!‘ and then he left Donald with a small, cheerful wave after having made sure that the duck was okay.

Donald had been a bit stupefied by the whole event but let it go after the Mexican rooster had disappeared from his sight just as fast as he had appeared. He would probably never see him again anyway.

So, when he didn’t feel the pain he was expecting as a result of crashing face first into the ground, but rather a pair of arms wrapping around his midriff and therefore catching him mid-fall, Donald, once again stupefied, allowed himself to open his eyes that he had closed during his fall. He looked at the arms wrapped around his waist, emerald green and yellow feathers, with the sleeve of a beige jacket folded up to the elbows. His eyes snapped up to the face of his saviour when the other person obviously asked him something.

And, oh! Oh by the name of Selene….

That was one very handsome parrot his bad luck had decided for him to fall, literally, into the arms. (Could it even be called bad luck then?)

„ _Você está bem, meu amigo?_ “ asked the handsome Brazilian again, as it appeared that Donald hadn’t caught his question at first due to shock and surprise. Or he just didn’t understand.

Not registering that the man was asking him a question, again, Donald could do nothing but gape at the other man as he helped the duck to stand up properly. The parrot in front of him had beautiful emerald green plumage, apart from his yellow feathered hands, the pale yellow and blue feathers just above his curved beak, and his red and blue coloured tail feathers. He wore a nice white dress shirt beneath that chic beige jacket, with the first two buttons undone and a bow-tie loosely wrapped around its neck, allowing to show off some of those nice green chest feathers. On top of his head rested a straw sun hat that matched his jacket in colour. His beak and talons were a bright orange and his eyes a deep maroon red that looked at him through half-lidded eyelids.

„Uhhhhh…“ was the unintelligent answer that Donald could only utter at that very moment.

He was still holding on to the green parrot’s hands as if he was still relying on the provided support, despite it not being true. Though, the way he felt his legs growing weak at the charming smile the man just graced him with at his intelligent remark, he wasn’t so sure on that one anymore as well…..

„I asked if you’re alright, my friend“ he repeated this time in English, though his Brazilian accent was still heavy in how he pronounced certain words.

Donald mentally shook his head, to get his mind out of the gutter and finally let go of the parrot’s hands.

„Oh, uhm yes! I am fine. Thank you, for catching me“ he thanked the green parrot. The Pekin straightened in surprise when the parrot bowed in front of him as a kind of greeting, he even made that gentleman signature move of taking his hat off his head and holding it to his chest.

„ _Sem problemas, meu amigo._ But where are my manners? _Meu nome é José Carioca_ , but everyone calls me Zé“ he introduced himself. Then he straightened himself back up, flipping his hat with a fancy hand move back onto his head, and graced him with another one of these charming smiles.

„And you are, _meu bem_?“ His velvety voice was so sultry that Donald couldn’t even attempt to stop the heat from rising into his white downy feathered cheeks.

Now, Donald has known for years that he was bisexual, with his major crushes on Daisy, with whom he, unfortunately, had a failed relationship, and on some of the guys, his sister had been crushing on as well. Only Della had known about his sexuality, not even his Uncle Scrooge knew that he from time to time fancied the company of handsome men. But thanks to the boys he hadn’t been able to actually pursue a relationship, even if there had been some willing individuals who had wanted to get together with him. 

However, Donald wasn’t easy to win over or to impress, thanks to the years-long exposure to the extravaganza that the world of a close member of the McDuck clan had to offer, and with him meeting new and exciting people left and right when he and his sister had joined their uncle on some of his exciting adventures. Add to this that he didn’t trust easily because of the very same reasons. It was a defence mechanism which had only intensified once he took his nephews under his wings. On top of that, he just told himself that he couldn't afford a relationship while also taking care of the triplets.

But this Brazilian parrot right in front of him, this Zé character, he met all of Donald’s standards!

He was handsome, first and foremost, suave, friendly (for the time being) and really exotic with him being Latin American. There was just something about Latinos that pulled Donald in. Be it their music, their dances, or their beautiful romantic language and fiery passion. 

Back home the only one who came close to his fancies was Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera. After having officially met the coffee feathered Cuban American duck, after that whole fiasco that had been the Shadow War, was over, Donald instantly started to take a shine to the other man.

Fenton was so kind and helpful that Donald at first couldn’t help but want to get a little closer to him. However, the other drake was too caught up in his science and ground-breaking ideas and theories that kept on swirling through his pretty little head, that he didn’t notice Donald’s advances for what they actually were. Now though, they were very good friends. Something that had been missing in Donald’s life for a long time now, and Donald enjoyed the time they spent away together form their respective work environments to cool off and or rant about anything and everything.

Donald even enjoyed listening to Fenton explain and break down his latest scientific discoveries to him because he liked how passionate the other duck got about it, to the point that his Cuban accent slipped through his fine polished English. 

So, you really can’t blame him for developing an instant crush on the hot Brazilian guy in front of him.

„Donald. Donald Duck“ he finally introduced himself, holding his wing out towards the parrot for him to shake.

José shook it, his handsome smile still in place as he said, „ _Prazer em conhecê-lo_. Nice to meet you, my friend.“

Donald could help but smile and reply a shy, „Likewise.“

Zé smiled at him and moved a little over to one side of the street where a guitar and a black umbrella were placed against the wall. He took the guitar and shouldered it onto his back while hooking the umbrella onto one arm. Donald asked himself as to why the guy needed an umbrella in sunny Rio de Janeiro, but he didn’t want to pry. 

The parrot joined his side once more and asked him, „You a tourist, I guess?“

At Donald’s nod, he continued, „First time in _maravilhoso Rio de Janeiro_?“

Donald nodded once more and pointed to where he knew his nephews and Launchpad were still standing. „My family and I are here to see a bit of Rio before we continue travelling further into Brazil,“ he explained.

José looked over to where two young ducklings were looking at him with wide curious eyes, the slushies in their hands forgotten for the time being. Behind them, a large drake was having fun dancing in a small circle while shaking a pair of _caxixi_ like crazy.

„Lovely little, _crianças_. They look a lot like you. You must be a proud father,“ he complimented Donald.

Donald chuckled, obviously flustered as he tried to wave off the parrot‘s compliment. „Ah, they’re not mine. They are my nephews. I am still painfully single,“ he informed, chuckling once more because of how nervous he felt in the presence of the other man.

Inside his head he was currently screaming ‚WHHHHYYYYY DID YOU SAY THAT YOU IDIOT!!!????‘ while banging his head as hard against an imaginative wall as he possibly could. He thought he had already gone through his gay panic phase back in college, but oh no this man was hot and none of his past male crushes came even close to José Carioca.

However, inside his mind his screaming was promptly cut off when Zé shot him an intrigued grin, saying sultrily, „Ohhh, so you’re still free, _lindo_? Must be my lucky day then.“

Boom. Donald’s brain might have just as well exploded and melted into a puddle of goo. His heart was racing like a jackrabbit inside his chest and Donald feared for a few moments that it would burst out of his chest. His inward screaming had started up once more, though this time for a completely different reason. He was also feeling the heat return to his face, which must now probably be as red as Huey’s shirt, if not more so. He desperately wanted to fan himself with his hand or something else, so as to cool down his burning face and in the process hopefully calm down his racing heartbeat.

On the outside though, Donald could only chuckle like a dumb teenager, not knowing how to respond to the handsome man’s smooth line.

Meanwhile, Zé smiled in a near smug fashion at seeing the completely flustered state the American duck was in thanks to his smooth-talking. He had the cute duck exactly where he wanted him to be. Swindling some money out of him would be easy and if it allowed him to get a little closer to the adorable duck during the process then that was just an added bonus. 

He ignored the small twinge of guilt poking at his chest at the thought of manipulating this beautiful bird in front of him, but he needed the money far more than the cute guy in the expensive looking sailor dress shirt.

So, without hesitating a second longer, Zé grabbed the other man’s hand carefully and put on his best smile when he continued his little scam, „How about I show you around Rio? I know the city like the back of my hand and I can show you the most beautiful places that no other guide ever could. _O que você diz lindo_?“

Donald blinked in astonishment at the gracious offer and was about to accept when the warning bells inside his head reminded him to be cautious about accepting such seemingly too generous proposals. The man could be as handsome as he wanted to be, Donald would not let himself get tricked into a con that easily. He had heard enough about the infamous conmen in places like these. Especially cities that, like Rio, showed a high percentage in both the numbers of the population of poor people and criminal activities. It also wouldn’t be the first time that someone would underestimate his harmless appearance and try to play him.

He narrowed his eyes at the green ave, obviously surprising him at his sudden change in demeanour.

“What’s the catch?” he asked suspiciously.

Zé blinked at the duck’s sudden sharpness, seemingly seeing through his carefully established guise of the charming local. But Zé wasn’t the king of con of Rio de Janeiro for nothing. It helped that his attraction towards the duck was actually genuine, giving his flirtation more credibility and thus allowing him to lie easier and keep up the charade as the friendly tour guide. He also wouldn’t mind if it led to something more before he had to break it off, or else he would take the scam too far and wouldn’t be able to dig himself back out of it again.

Plus, he liked a challenge. And this duck might just provide him with that kind of challenge, after all.

„The catch?“ He asked faux-innocently, though his playful grin betrayed him altogether.

Donald narrowed his eyes at him and Zé couldn’t help but chuckle at the adorable image the duck made in front of him, trying to look all assertive and defiant. His grin only widened when he slid closer to the other male with a heated gaze and saw that delicious blush return to the duck’s cheeks.

„Only for you to spend some time with me, my friend~ Maybe even get something to drink and dance later in the evening?“

Donald’s frown lessened a little, the proposal was really tempting but he still remained a little suspicious. However, instead of continuing to glare at the other male, Donald then opted to smile playfully back at the parrot and poke his chest, „Alright, I’ll bite. But I’ll keep an eye on you."

Zé’s grin formed itself into a triumphant smirk as he bowed once again in front of the duck, „I was hoping you would say that, _meu bem._ “

Donald blushed again, yet he couldn’t hold back the smile he desperately tried to suppress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed that I am a big fan of José Carioca, and you're absolutely right at that. I just love parrots, as I used to have one as a pet (that's why Mark Beaks is my favourite villains in the series). But don't worry, Panchito will get his time to shine and swipe Donald off his webbed feet. 
> 
> Updates may be slow but until then have a good time, guys.


	2. Of unamused Nephews, boisterous Roosters and Conmen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe that I got that many lovely comments and kudos, and that only for the first chapter. Thank you, guys.
> 
> Anyway, I was able to finish the second chapter quickly (because I had already half of it done by the time I posted the first one).  
> It's twice as long as the first one as I was unable to cut it shorter without leaving it off awkward. But now I'm quite happy with how this one turned out as it allows me to pick off much better for the next chapter.  
> Though there will be no update for the next 2-3 weeks as I have to concentrate on my assignments for uni. But I feel pretty hyped to continue this story so I hope that I will be able to deliver the next chapter by the end of that timeline. 
> 
> I also found the small comic again (after some extensive scrolling down my list of favourites)  
> It's by 'tomaturtles' on Tumblr and here is the link to that cute wonderful comic, which inspired me to write this story (http://tomaturtles.tumblr.com/post/179789119886/i-thought-the-concept-of-panchito-and-josé). So, make sure and have a look at it:)
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much as the first one! Stay tuned for more!

Huey and Webby were excitedly bouncing up and down next to uncle Scrooge when they left the museum a few hours later. They had learned so much during their visit there! Not only had their clue given them the much-needed information that they needed to begin planning for their treasure hunt, but while doing so, it had sent them on a wild goose chase through the whole museum on its own!

Webby, while simultaneously dangling upside down from the reconstructed skeleton of a blue whale, had even recounted how this scavenger hunt reminded her of how she and Dewey searched for clues about Della Duck in the McDuck Archives while trying to pass Miss Quackfaster’s trials.

Scrooge had only been able to blink in surprise when he heard about this untypical behaviour of Emily Quackfaster. Now, he knew that she took her job as a librarian and maintainer really serious…. but not THAT serious. However, hearing this only proofed that he could really rely on her to take care of the invaluable files and books stored inside the archives, thus making her indeed a very invaluable asset to his staff at the Money Bin.

 

Done with their research for the day, they made their way towards a coffee shop, that situated not too far away from the museum, and where Huey knew the others were after having texted his brothers. It didn’t take him long to spot his brothers sitting at a small table, their chins resting in the palm of their hands as they looked at something in the opposite direction of the approaching trio. Launchpad was sitting next to them, looking at the menu card that he was holding up in front of his face with a very concentrated expression.

 

Huey jogged up to them, thrumming with excitement as he couldn’t wait to tell them everything they had just found out about the history and mysteries revolving around El Dorado! Jumping in front of his two younger brothers with their arms spread wide, Huey and Webby were at first so taken with their eagerness to relay everything back to the other two, that they did not notice that something was amiss, or that one important duck of the group of four was missing in the first place.

Taking in a deep breath, they then started their long tirade, switching back and forth between sentences. Though it did not take Huey long to notice that his younger brothers weren’t even listening to them, as they clearly evaded them by stretching their heads to either side of them so that they could continue looking at whatever was behind their backs. And the heavy irritated frown on their faces made him instantly warily worried himself. However, before Huey could ask what happened that made them act like this, Uncle Scrooge demanded to know what happened to their uncle Donald.

 

Huey and Webby, who until then had continued blabbering on about their small adventure in the museum, looked up and around to realise that, indeed, the middle-aged duck wasn’t anywhere in sight. Dewey only gave an aggravated grunt in response, which Louie then clarified with a deep grumble, „Joe-say Caroco, or whatever his name is, happened….“

„Joe….say?“ asked Huey, completely confused.

„Caroco?“ continued Webby his question.

Scrooge lifted a brow, not even attempting to find out what they meant by that and simply asked them where he was then. The two only pointed towards where they had been looking this entire time.

The three newcomers turned their heads in the pointed-out direction and saw a small crowd standing in a small circle, only a few buildings down the road.

 

Though Huey was quickly able to pick his uncle out from the small crowd, thanks to the years-long habit of keeping an eye on his accident-prone uncle whenever they went to the crowded shopping mall on a busy Saturday. It helped, of course, that his uncle was also the only white feathered duck among the other colourful birds.

He was listening to a street performer playing the guitar and singing a soft romantic tune in Portuguese. He was obviously enjoying the green parrot’s beautiful singing voice as he was slowly swaying from side to side with a soft smile on his beak. Huey didn’t know why that seemed to upset his brothers so much, though. He was just about to ask them, beak already opened and the question on the tip of his tongue, when Louie held up his right hand to stop him in his tracks. Huey frowned but then his youngest brother pointed back towards their uncle, his own frown never lessening while doing so.

Huey huffed but followed his brother’s silent command. Usually, it was him who ordered the other two around, but he let it slide for now as it was a very rare occasion for both Dewey and Louie to share the same kind of expression, especially when it involved their uncle.

 

So, after shooting a quick glance at his Uncle Scrooge and Webby, whose's eyes had widened in total bewilderment in the short he hadn't been looking, Huey looked back towards his uncle Donald.

And gaped.

The _male_ street performer was now slowly dancing around their uncle, grinning flirtatiously down at him as he continued singing his little song.

And Donald? Donald was playfully smiling (playfully smiling!) right back at him. He was obviously liking the parrot’s attempt of serenading him, yet he did not give him the impression of being won over.

 

Huey and Webby looked back at the other two, mouths still wide open and eyes wide and searching for some kind of explanation for what was going on. They had been gone for only a few hours, what had happened during that time?!

Dewey and Louie shared a meaningful look when Huey and Webby graced them with their own versions of a flabbergasted expression that they had sported only three hours ago themselves. Back then, Louie and Dewey really didn’t know how to interpret their uncle’s sudden strange behaviour at the beginning, as they had never seen him act like that with anyone.

They had tried writing it off as embarrassment for having literally stumbled into the other man’s arms. However, it did not stop and instead continued on even long after Donald had introduced them to the jovial parrot. At first, they thought the suave parrot cool and interesting, but they soon realised that his interest only lay in their uncle as everything that he told and showed them about Rio de Janeiro was mainly directed at their uncle. And that made them both quickly very peeved and suspicious of the green parrot. Launchpad had remained none the wiser during their small sightseeing tour.

They offered their older brother a look that said they would explain everything later on to him and Webby.

 

„Meet our new self-proclaimed tour guide,“ said Dewey monotonously.

„Tour guide!? Donald paid a random guy to be a tour guide?“ asked Scrooge in outrage. What was his nephew thinking on hiring some random man of the street to be their tour guide?! That was only wasted money!

„Not paid. He, oh so generously offered~, after having caught unca’ Donald from falling onto his face,“ clarified Louie, though his tone and hard gaze showed how truly suspicious he was of the green parrot.

That did not help to calm Scrooge down. Really! Donald should know better than to trust such ‚gracious‘ strangers on the streets. Had he learned nothing during their old adventures way back when?

 

The group of ducks then observed the parrot finish his song and happily collect some money from his small audience. He said something to Donald and motioned to the pub behind him to which Donald nodded. The parrot, after having collected his money and bowing to everyone in thanks, then disappeared with a last charming smile to everyone but which was mostly directed at Donald, into the small bar he had been playing in front of.

Donald was still wearing a small dopey smile when he turned around to make his way back towards where his family was seated, though he seemed too absorbed in his own mind to actually notice the return of the missing three ducks.

Scrooge huffed once more, he seemed to be doing this a lot lately, and decided to take a seat at the table and spread the ancient map out on top of it with the newly recovered clues on the guidelines that him, Webby and Huey had dug up during their small scavenger hunt in the museum. He might as well already start to look over their notes and compare them to the scriptures on the map, while his nephew decided to let himself be conned by some street parrot.

It’s not his money after all.

 

With the parrot gone for the moment, and they surely hoped he would never return, Dewey and Louie chanced to divert their gaze from their uncle Donald towards the map spread on top of the table, their curiosity spiked despite their concern for their parent figure.

It was a very old map, ancient even, going by the flimsy parchment that was close to falling apart, and the slowly but surely fading inscriptions and symbols scattered around a map that showed the northwestern part of the Amazon close to the Columbian border. The symbols themselves ranged from small, nearly indistinctive shapes to that of larger depictions of horrifying and nearly grotesque looking creatures.

For a few moments, they watched Scrooge compare the two scripture and then write something down in his notebook when he believed to have found the translation. Webby had migrated to the seat next to him at that point to help him with his task, readily pointing out each symbol with its corresponding translation.

Dewey straightened up a little as his curiosity was slowly taking the best of him. He grew really interested for as to what all these different symbols stood for and where they would lead them to.

Louie remained still rather indifferent to the whole mysticism and legend revolving around their next big adventure. Although he did hope that those horrifying creatures would only remain depictions on the map and not turn out to be actual beasts that would try to kill them. His worried musing was interrupted by a sudden familiar outcry that let everyone, except for Launchpad (who was still studying the menu as if it was a limited edition of the newest Darkwing Duck comic strip), snap their heads back up towards where Donald had been on his way towards them.

 

Keyword being ‘had been’, as Donald was currently suspended in mid-air in a kind of dipping position, courtesy of a red feathered rooster with a large sombrero on his head, and who had fortunately been fast enough to catch the stumbling duck in his fall.

Donald was blinking in complete bewilderment up at the rooster’s face who looked just as surprised at first as him. That was until an enormously large grin spread itself across his pointy yellow beak.

 

Louie and Dewey groaned in unison, ‘ _Not another one…_.’

 

~~~***~~~

 

Panchito was having a good day so far!

First, he had some tasty breakfast in the coffee house right next to the hotel, and though he had forgotten his wallet back in his room and had, therefore, to rush back to collect it, it had at least led to him running into some cute duck in the corridor. Too bad he wasn’t able to strike up a proper conversation with the other ave, least he risked to be taken in by the cops that the owner threatened to call, were Panchito not to return fast enough.

After that, he had spent some time at the beach and wandering around the streets until he relocated to this small restaurant here right at the Copacabana, where he then decided to have some late lunch. The food had been delicious, and Panchito allowed himself a few minutes of rest to decide what he was going to do next.

Should he continue his sightseeing? He had seen nearly everything he wanted to see of the city in these last few days he had been here. His stay was slowly coming to an end, and he was still not sure if he should continue his travel through South America or return back home to his _familia_. On the one hand, he really wanted to go on an adventure and experience the world! On the other, did he really want to do that all on his own? Visiting Rio by himself is one thing, but tracking alone through South America was an entirely different matter. And he didn’t have his trusted horse Señor Martinez with him to keep him company and get him away from danger.

Panchito sighed in indecision and decided to get up and continue to just wander around the city for the time being. Rio was really beautiful, and pretty much the complete opposite of his small home town back in Mexico. It was closer to Mexico City in atmosphere, yet it still held something pretty distinctive from MC and every other city he had been to, so far. The music and the dances were different, and the language of course, but the Brazilians seemed more outgoing, with them always trying to find a reason to dance and sing and just party in general, than most other folks he had met so far.

And Panchito rather liked that. After all, Rio was _the_ party city _por excelencia_! Too bad he wasn’t able to visit during carnival season….

 

The only thing that had not been as fantastic, and which still greatly aggravated him when thinking about it, was the memory of that green feathered parrot that tried to trick him into spending all of his money into a rigged card game. Panchito saw how the Brazilian tried to slip his card up into his sleeve to keep Panchito from winning. His older brother, Antonio, used that same trick all the time to try and win their card games, so Panchito knew what to look out for.

The parrot was good, and Panchito had nearly missed his subtle and nearly successful attempt of playing him, but in the end, he had the parrot backed up against the next best wall, glaring down at the smaller man and demanding his money back. Then that _loro sórdido_ even had the guts to look apologetic, sheepishly grinning up at him and offering him to show him around Rio in compensation for trying to scam him. But that grin and apologising offer were as friendly as a venomous snake in the chicken coop.

For, only a second later, Panchito walked away with only half of his money, because the parrot had managed to take him off-guard and successfully pick-pocketed him before making a quick get-away through the crowded streets, shouting something mockingly back at him in Portuguese and laughing at his gullibility.

That damned parrot should better stay clear of him, or he’ll wish to never have run across Panchito’s path.

 

Still deep in thought, Panchito didn’t pay attention to what was in front of him as he exited the building and in turn, ran into someone for the second time that day. However, this time he reacted fast enough and was able to catch the guy he nearly toppled over. Both men blinked in surprise at what just happened, and at their rather questionable position. It took a few moments to blink away his confusion to fully recognise the young man he’s holding in his arms.

The elated grin that spread across his beak was so wide that it nearly split his face in two, „ _¡Oye!_ You are _el pato lindo_ that I nearly ran over, back in the hotel earlier this day! And now, it seems... _Lo siento_ , for this!“

He straightened back up, pulling the still befuddled mallard with him. He didn’t hesitate to grab one of his white feathered hands and shook it excitedly, „Let me introduce myself!  _Mi llamo Panchito Romero Miguel Junipero Francisco Quintero González III_ , but my friends call me Panchito! _¿Y tú?_ What’s your name _, mi amigo?_ “

 

Donald’s head and body were still shaking as an after-result of the rooster’s very energetic handshake. It took him a few seconds to get rid of the dizziness, but he replied nonetheless, „D-Donald Duck.“

„What a lovely name! It suits you!“ complimented Panchito, his smile still wide and excited. The Pekin smiled back, „Thank you. Your's as well. It’s very…. long.“

Panchito laughed at that, agreeing with him on the ridiculous length of his name, „ _Sí_ , it is. I even made a song about how I got it from _mi familia_ for anyone who actually dares to ask. You wanna hear it?“

Donald chuckled, denying the offer with a small sarcastic tone at the end, „Maybe another time but I’m sure it’s a funny and easy song to remember.“

 

Panchito grinned at his soft jab. He liked the duck’s dry humour and hoped to get more out of him. So, he didn’t hesitate to continue their conversation by asking him about his stay in Rio, „How are you enjoying Rio so far? Is it your first time here? Does it meet your expectations?“ 

 

Donald couldn’t help but smile at the rooster’s lively attitude. Usually, people that were as boisterous as him would only annoy Donald to no end, but there was just something about Panchito that made him feel a little more rejuvenated, despite having met only a few minutes ago.

„It is beautiful! So, much livelier and colourful than I imagined. And so far the people had been really nice here.“ His mind wandered to Zé for a short second there, bringing about a small smile onto his beak, „And yes, my family and I are here for the first time.“ He pointed with his thumb towards his family that was still seated at the table a few feet away.

 

Panchito smiled widely into their direction and waved animatedly at them, resulting in the four adorable ducklings tentatively waving back at him. Two of them, the blue and the green one, looked more suspicious of him than the other two but Panchito didn't let that bother him. He is basically a stranger. Donald smiled at the adorable picture in front of him, while silently noting that his uncle, Huey and Webby had also returned. Scrooge though seemed to pay more attention to the map that he had spread out on the table in front of him.

Panchito turned back to him and chuckled, „ _Tus niños son muy lindo~_ “

Donald thought to hear an air of disappointment in his voice but ignored in favour of denying, once again, that he wasn’t the father of his three nephews, „Why does everyone think that, anyway?“

Panchito, having seemingly brightened up at his clarification, chuckled once more, „Because they look a lot like you, _mi amigo bonito._ “

He chuckled, even more, when he saw Donald subtly preening himself at his answer, obviously proud by being complimented like this despite not being their birth father.

 

„So, how about you?“ asked Donald with a curious smile.  
„It’s also my first visit to Rio. I have been to Bahia before, to visit my mother’s family, but I really like it here as well! I’ve been here for a few days and got to see a lot of beautiful places and taste a lot of good food! I could recommend you some if you want!“ he proposed, sliding a little closer to the duck and playfully wiggling his eyebrows. Donald snorted and pushed the other bemusedly away.

„We already got a guide who’s showing us around Rio,“ he said semi-nonchalantly. Panchito deflated at that, looking visibly disappointed at not being able to play tour guide for the duck family.

„But you could join us if you want to?“ then offered Donald kindly. He didn’t really know why he actually proposed for the Mexican rooster to join them on their tour, but seeing the other man so saddened didn’t really bode well with him. Panchito was supposed to be happy and upbeat. He was sure that it would also be funny to stay around the taller for a few more days.

 

Panchito literally jumped up at that and grasped his hands to energetically shake them once more in happiness, „Really, _mi amigo_!? I have to admit it has been a bit lonely these past few days, so I would really like to spend more time with you and your _familia_! We’ll have so much fun!“

Donald then lurched to the side as Panchito proceeded to drag him towards his family, nearly causing him to face-plant the ground once more. Fortunately, he was able to keep his balance and stagger in front of the very excited rooster. Despite this small mishap Donald couldn’t help but feel just as excited and enthusiastic as his new Mexican friend. Panchito’s lively personality really was contagious it seemed.

 

~~~***~~~

 

‚ _Great, another guy who will most likely try to trick our uncle out of our money. At least, this one doesn't lay it on as thick at that green parrot_ ’, thought Louie, his frown deepening once more as he watched his uncle bring along yet another too smiley and too friendly looking bird. He looked at his older brothers. While Dewey openly shared his opinion, Huey still didn’t really seem to grasp why his younger brothers acted like this. His dark brown eyes mustered the red feathered rooster with expectant curiosity.

To be fair, when the guy introduced himself, and wow he has a really long name, he seemed way more genuine and friendly than Joe-Say. But despite that, Louie and Dewey remained unmoved about their suspicion, while Webby and Huey were way more eager to ask him several questions.

Scrooge meanwhile narrowed his eyes at the rooster in distrust, before angrily directing it at Donald who only rolled his eyes in response.

 

„I am from México!“ answered Panchito with his arms spread and a prideful grin.

Donald snorted. „As if that hadn’t been obvious,“ he commented drily while teasingly tugging at Panchito’s large sombrero.

The rooster chuckled, „You got me there, _mi amigo._ “ He then turned back to the children, „We live in the northern part of Chihuahua, where _mi familia_ has the biggest ranch of all of México.“

Before he could tell anything more about his family, he was interrupted by the sound of his phone going off. „Ah,  _perdóneme,_ “ he apologised, pulling out his phone and grinning when seeing the caller ID, „speaking of family, I really got to take this one. I’ll be back quickly, _mis amigos!_ “

He then excused himself with a warm smile directed at Donald before walking away, answering his phone with a loud „¡ _Hola, m’ma!“_

 

Donald snorted once more in amusement as he watched the Mexican walk away, happily talking to who he presumed was his mother (sarcasm). He then looked at Huey and Webby with an intrigued expression, „So? What have you found out?“

Huey and Webby instantly jumped on his question with sparkling eyes. He chuckled softly when he listened to the two animatedly recount their exciting scavenger hunt throughout the museum.

When they finished their small tale, another voice spoke up, all smooth and suave, “That sure sounded like quite the adventure. And that in the _museu_?”

Donald jumped slightly, not having heard the parrot coming up behind him, gaining himself a small laugh from the culprit.

 

“ _Desculpa_. It took a little longer than I thought to get back. I had to talk to someone on my way out,” apologised José for his tardy return. Donald waved his apology off with a small smile, “It’s fine, Zé. By the way, this is the rest of my family, Huey, the oldest of my nephews and their best-friend Webby Vanderquack. And my uncle, Scrooge McDuck.”

Scrooge looked up at the newcomer, eyes narrowed as a too wide and flashy grin appeared on the parrot’s yellow beak at the mention of his name. That street rat was up to something, and he would even bet his lucky dime that it had something to do with him being the richest duck in the world. But for his nephew’s sake, he would keep up the charade. For now at least. Maybe when his true intentions will be revealed, Donald would be reminded to not trust that easily in strangers.

 

The parrot bowed his head and tipped his hat, “José Carioca, a pleasure to meet you all.”

Huey and Webby made a soft ‘ahhhh’ sound at hearing the right pronunciation of his name. Scrooge, on the other hand, forced himself to smile at the flashy Brazilian, “Likewise.”

Going by the flat look that he got from Donald however, he knew that he failed. José, on the other hand, didn’t really seem fazed by his dry comment. His eyes had in the meantime swerved to the map that Scrooge had still spread out on the table, eying it with interest. He leaned his weight over it just to make sure the parrot couldn’t make a grab for it and then run off with it.

He didn’t trust that parrot one bit.

 

~~~***~~~

 

Panchito has been happily talking to his mother when he turned around to look at Donald and his family when she asked him if something good had happened, going by his melodic tone in his voice. But what he saw standing right next to said duck made Panchito see red, despite his vision being filled with green feathers. It was that SAME pesky parrot from the other day! And he was standing waaaay too close to Donald to just be friendly with him, but his mallard friend didn’t seem to notice the danger he was in. And he was even smiling at the green pest! That snake didn’t even deserve to be graced with that handsome sight!

He was just about ready to walk straight over there and strangle the parrot for daring to scam such a lovely little family and most of all sweet Donald. And of course, he wanted to get the sweet satisfaction of beating up the sleazy cheat for stealing his money. But mostly, because of Donald!

But after taking one step into their direction, ready to rouse up a storm, the sharp and worried tone of his mother’s normally gentle voice on the other line of the phone held him back, freezing him up like a child that stole from the cookie jar, „ _Panchito? What is going on? You answer me this instant, young man! Or, I’ll come down there just to throw my slipper at you!_ “

Panchito shivered at that frightening image. He didn’t need the reminder of his m’ma throwing her _chancla_ at him. Even the memory alone caused him to feel the painful sting at the back of his head.

 

„ _Sorry, m’ma. It’s just... Something came in between right now, and now I have to protect my new friend from being robbed clean from some conman_ ,“ he explained honestly, knowing that it really wouldn’t help him to lie to his mother _._ Better to just tell her the truth straight away.

His mother was silent for a few seconds before answering, „ _What are you waiting for then, my son?! Go and help your friend! And give that conman some well deserved Gonzalez wrath! Make your m’ma proud, my son!_ “

Panchito smiled at her enthusiasm for beating up a cheap trickster, „ _I will, m’ma! I’ll call you back later_.“

 

After hanging up, Panchito's eyes landed on the four children sitting at the table, together with their great-uncle. Panchito clicked his beak several times in frustrated uncertainty. While he really did want to beat up that damned parrot and throw some very specific cuss-words at him that would even make his _abuelo_ blush in second-hand embarrassment, he really couldn’t do that in front of the whole family, especially the kids. He was sure they wouldn’t understand, but he really didn't want to take those chances. They were still too young and too innocent and impressionable to learn those kinds of words. And then Donald would surely hate him!

NO! He had to go about this another way! How could he both exact revenge for his stolen money and make the conman look bad in front of everyone at the same time? So, what was essential to a conman?

‚ _Ah, hermano~ You see, for us tricksters, everything is about making your victim believe your lies. Your success lies in your credibility. You know? Keeping up believable pretences_ ,‘ echoed his older brother’s voice inside his head.

Panchito snapped his fingers, having gotten the perfect idea. An evil smirk spread across his face as he looked towards the flashy conman. Ohh, he’s going to love this~

 

~~~***~~~

 

José froze when a heavy arm wrapped itself around his shoulders, squeezing him threateningly, followed by a friendly yet icy sounding voice, “Ah~ _mi amigo~_ I have been looking all over for you~.”

José knew who it was just by hearing the Mexican accent in that smooth voice, yet he still chanced to look at the man that held him in a ‘friendly’ headlock. And yes, it really was the red and oh so much taller rooster that he had stolen from only the other day. Smiling brightly down at him. From the outside, one might think it was just a friendly hug and smile, but José knew better. His eyes were just too bright with the furious fire burning in those dark amber eyes and his smile so wide that it looked more like a dog baring its teeth. Oh yes. The rooster was seething with barely controlled anger.

Curse his luck! This damned chicken will expose him to Donald and the others! And then every chance he had at stealing some mouthwatering amount of money from the esteemed Scrooge McDuck will be blown out the window! He really needed that money! Or else he wouldn’t be able to-

 

“You know each other?” asked Donald, blinking at them in total surprise, yet pleased to learn that his two new friends knew each other.

Before José could answer him in a meagre attempt to save his hide, Panchito squeezed his arm even tighter around José’s neck, choking and cutting him off in the process, the rooster replied in his stead, “Oh sí! We met just the other day! The poor guy apparently needed some money because the next thing I knew I found myself with only half of my money. Isn’t that right, _mi amigo_?” He tightened his hold even more, causing José to choke once more and gasp for breath.

Louie and Dewey jumped up in triumph, „We knew it! You were just that friendly because you wanted to scam us into giving you money all along!“

Scrooge’s angry frown was so deep that on had to worry that it would stay stuck like this. Webby and Huey looked at each other in confused disbelief before getting defensive just as fast. But the worst reaction to José was the deeply disappointed expression in Donald’s eyes and the sad frown on his handsome face.

 

„So, this really was nothing more than a scam?“ he asked, anger and pain slipping into his brisk tone. The ‚I was nothing more than easy money to you?’ went unheard but José still knew that it hung on to those last words. It wouldn’t have been the first time someone threw that against his head, but it was the first time that it made him feel so guilty that it literally hurt to see his victim like this. He really had fun today, touring the mallard and his family through the streets of his beloved city, sharing in some light teasing and flirting, and laughing at the antics of his two mischievous nephews and the larger duck (whose name had unfortunately slipped from his mind because he had focused most of his attention on the smaller cuter duck next to him). They had a similar taste in humour, dark, sarcastic and dry, and loved listening to the same kind of music. He hadn’t had that much fun in a long time. It had nearly made him forget about his personal troubles and just drop his scam. But he really, _really_ needed that money!

 

„No! I-*SQUAWK*!“ He tried to explain everything in hopes of wiping that expression from the mallard’s face, but the rooster interrupted him once more with another clench of his arm, „O-okay, yes! I admit it! B-But, I-I d-didn’t meant to-*gruh*.“

„ _Save it,_ _cabrón,_ “ he hissed lowly next to his ear so that the kids wouldn’t catch his insult. The Mexican then proceeded to shove him away from the group, growling, „I would advise you to take your leave, hombre. I’m pretty sure you have overstayed your welcome. Keep my money, I don’t need it, and maybe it will make you happy now.“

José glared right back at him before looking at the flock of ducks. They all looked at him in disdain and resentment, especially Donald who then turned his head away from him, refusing to look and say anything to him after what had just been revealed. José knew at that moment that he officially blew it. There’s nothing that he could say right now that would help him get back into their good graces.

 

Shooting Panchito one last glare, José let out a defeated sigh, turned around and walked away from the group. He was beating himself up inside his head and cursing that damned overgrown chicken for doing this to him! It was the chance of a lifetime and would most likely have helped him with all his problems, had he been able to rob Scrooge McDuck! Then he wouldn’t even need to do all of this anymore!

 

~~~***~~~

 

„You alright?“ asked Panchito the still distraught mallard next to him.

„Yes. I had my suspicions, but I was willing to give him a chance. I guess he didn’t take it seriously,“ he explained, trying to sound indifferent but the hurt of having his trust betrayed still showed through.

Behind him, Donald could hear Louie and Dewey scoff, grumbling something along the lines of, „He wasn’t that great of a tour guide anyway“ or „He was way too sleazy and flashy.“

Panchito wrapped an arm around the smaller man’s shoulder, pulling him amicably close to him, before huffing in indignation „His loss for trying to scam such a nice family.“

Donald scoffed at that, trying to put on a smile when he looked at Panchito, „Thanks, by the way. For stopping him, I mean.“

„Of course, _mi amigo lindo_! Panchito Romero Miguel Junipero Francisco Quintero Gonzalez III is always there to help!“ He puffed his chest up and squared his shoulders to look more heroic, as he smiled down at the smaller male. Well, he didn’t get the lovestruck gaze he was aiming for, but at least he did get Donald to chuckle. That’s at least counts as a plus point in his books.

 

They looked up when they heard Scrooge loudly clear his throat to get their attention.

„How can we be sure that ye aren’t a hustler yerself, laddie?“ He asked harshly with a hard look directed at the Mexican, while he started rolling up his map once more. He had officially given up on translating any more scriptures for the day.

Instead of cowering as he expected, Panchito stood only taller, steeling his gaze as he answered calmly back, „I don’t like being called a liar and a thief, _Señor McPato_. I have no need of your money. My family owns the largest ranch in México, and therefore we’re pretty well of. And even if we weren’t, I rather enjoy the simple things that life has to over than obsessing over money. I prefer wandering around the countryside with just the clothes on my back and my most trusted horse Señor Martinez by my side, always looking for some kind of adventure, rather than worrying over my financial problems.“ He finished with his head held high and pride in his voice.

Donald had to hold back a smile at the stunned face of his uncle at Panchito’s passive-aggressive jab at his money obsession, even though he was sure that Panchito didn’t really know who exactly he had sitting right in front of him. He’s slowly starting to like the fiery Mexican rooster.

 

„Good answer, laddie“ chuckled Scrooge. Panchito smiled brightly back, having already shrugged off the attack on his person. But he understood the cautiousness with everything that happened just now. The elderly mallard just wanted to be sure that they could trust him. That didn’t mean though he would hesitate to put him in his place.

Donald chuckled as well and mentioned towards the table while asking kindly „You want to join us? It’s the least we can do after what you did for us.“

Panchito didn’t hesitate and accepted the offer, sitting himself down next to Donald and the little girl.

When they were all finally seated and ready to take a look at the menu for a small treat, they were suddenly surprised by Launchpad slamming down his own menu card and announcing loudly, „I’ll take the Brazilian ice cream! Huff! Who knew that reading and understanding Portuguese is that hard? Oh, who are you?“ He looked at Panchito with a friendly smile.

The others, except for Panchito who introduced himself once more with an excited handshake, gave the pilot a flat look.

„Really Launchpad?“ deadpanned Scrooge.

„You do know that they have an English translation on the back, right?“ pointed Dewey out.

Launchpad blinked and turned the card around, chuckling bemusedly, „Huh, what do you know.“

 

~~~***~~~

 

**A few moments after having left the group**

 

After having put enough distance between the group and himself, José dared to look back towards them, only to watch with growing frustration how the rooster tried consoling Donald with an arm wrapped around his shoulders, and a charming smile that was sure to swipe some love-sick chicks off of their feet.

How dare that red feathered fowl bath in glory and get the cute guy, while he wallowed in misery?! (Even though he knew that he deserved it, José was too proud to admit to it at that point in time, as he was still angry that everything had blown up in his face like a bomb in one of those old slapstick cartoons.)

He huffed and was just about to turn back around and stomp off in fury when his maroon red eyes caught the fluttering of the giant map that Scrooge McDuck was currently rolling back up. His eyes widened when he remembered the brief glimpse of the symbols and scriptures he had gotten only a few minutes prior, though he had dismissed them at first in favour of sucking up to Scrooge. They had looked familiar, but from where? He snapped his fingers when a lightbulb went on above his head.

His _avó_ ’s old books! If he were to find something about them, then it was in there! He grinned with renewed excitement as he turned around and started rushing home. Maybe everything wasn’t lost after all! And maybe he will still get the money and, hopefully, the guy in the end!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor José, but he will not give up that easily. What will he do next? Why do those symbols look so familiar to him? What are his actual motives behind all those scams and lies? Everything will be revealed in the next chapter.
> 
> Also, here are some translations for words or expression of which I am sure not everyone knows what it means (but remember that I translated them via Google translate so they may actually not be correct translations):  
> • loro sórdido - sleazy parrot (Spanish)  
> • avó - grandmother (Portuguese)  
> (if there is anyone who knows either Spanish or Portuguese and finds them to be incorrectly translated don't hesitate to point out the right one to me. I will then correct it. I know how cringey it can be when your language isn't relayed correctly). Longer conversations in Spanish/Portuguese will be written in italic English to evade this exact problem (and because it's more comfortable for both me and you guys.)
> 
> I also added some small 'easter eggs':  
> • the way Louie and Dewey pronounce José's name is inspired by how Donald did in 'Saludos Amigos'  
> • Donald's body shaking even after Panchito finished shaking his hand (it happens to anyone who dares to accept his energetic handshakes)  
> • Panchito mentioning his song 'My Name is Panchito' from that one episode in 'The House of Mouse' which also made his (ass) long name canon from that moment on (at least I believe so)  
> • in that same song, Panchito also explains that his mother is from Bahia (making him part Brazilian)  
> • Señor Martinez (Panchito's horse) from Panchito's comics  
> • La Chancla~!!  
> • the Darkwing Duck reference  
> (more easter eggs are sure to come!)
> 
> Everything about Panchito and his family is headcanon as I couldn't find any kind of information about them.  
> I also headcanon Panchito to be all nice and upbeat (easily making fast friends left and right), but don't you dare hurt his family or friends or underestimate him.  
> I also portray him a little less airheaded than the 'The Legend of the Three Caballeros' version of him (that doesn't mean I don't love him in that show. He's just too precious and funny) but I prefer the one from 'TTC' movie (however brief his appearance is) and the TTC episode in Ducktales.  
> José is a mix of all of them (though I especially love his voice in Ducktales.)
> 
> Well, that's all for now! Hope you liked it! And see you soon with Chapter 3!


	3. Part 1: Revelations and the Beginning of a Passionate Rivalry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is Chapter 3! It's 5 AM I am dead tired but so happy to finally post this behemoth of a chapter! (So, please forgive me for any major grammatical errors)  
> It is a little longer than the second chapter yet it's only Part 1. I will hopefully be able to post Part 2 by the end of the week as I still need to finish it up and edit it (alongside with packing my stuff to fly back home for spring break). When I post it I will edit this chapter as well but for now, I wanted to share this chapter with you.  
> This chapter focuses more on Panchito, with José returning towards the end.  
> I hope you like it.

_„Come on, where is it?“ A book went flying across the small room, hitting the wall on the opposite side with a hard thud before dropping unceremoniously to the floor._

_„I know it must be somewhere around here.“ Another book followed, hitting a lamp that stood unfortunately in its trajectory and effectively knocking it over. It went ignored by the thrower._

_„History of the Arara? No, wrong scriptures yet close….“ The nth book made its merry way across the room._

_„Also not the_ Arapaso _… Ara…. Ara… Arac-AHA!“_

_A green head popped up from behind a large pile of stacked books and files, the usually pristine feathers were now a frazzled dusty mess and sticking up whichever way. Yet the man didn’t care as he triumphantly held up the book that he had been feverishly looking for. He stood up, rushed out of the small storage room that he had been turning upside down for the past two hours and sat down on the couch in his living room. Resting the book on his lap, he opened it hastily and started leafing right through it._

_The first few pages of the book gave information on the tribe itself, of course. The middle section informed about their language, scriptures and symbols, and further in the back were notes and guidelines to the old rites and practices that the tribe used to do to honour and worship the gods and spirits of the jungle. He would make sure to read some more about those, but_ first _, he had to find the correct translations to those symbols he had memorised before he could do anything else._

_Looking down with a small smirk, maroon red eyes inspected the same scriptures that had been depicted on that old miser’s map. Now, what were they looking for~?_

 

——————————

 

Panchito groaned in satisfaction as his neck and shoulders popped when he stretched his arms as far up as he could. He slept so well last night that he nearly felt too lazy to leave the warm comfort of his soft bed. Normally he was an early riser, waking with the first rays of the sun shining through his window and warming his red feathers, but today he let himself sleep in a little longer. But remembering what he had planned for today made him jump out of his bed quick enough and get ready for another beautiful day in Rio de Janeiro. And today was going to be even better because he was going to join Donald and his family in their sight-seeing tour around the city.

He had been elated when Donald offered for him to join their small group, knowing that Panchito had missed being in the company of others. The duck was so kind to let him tag along, even after what happened between him and that thieving parrot. Though it did not come without its warning from Donald and the rest of his family….

 

_‚I am willing to trust you. But if you do try to lead us on, just as José tried to do, then I will personally kick your ass to next Sunday.‘_

_‚Ye may seem like an upright fellow, lad, but Aye will still keep me eyes on ye.‘_

_‚We may be children but we can very much take care of ourselves, so don’t even think about trying to fool us.‘ ‚Yeah! For we ain’t no fools!‘ ‚You got to lay off those Avetube videos, Dewey. Really, you’re embarrassing us here‘ ‚I’ll show you embarrassing, Louie!‘ ‚Yeah what the boys said… Or more like what Huey said‘_

 

Though the picture of an entire family of angry ducks standing in front of him highly amused him, they were so small, adorable and fluffy compared to him, it was hard to imagine them being a real threat to anyone.

Shaking his head with a soft chuckle at the absurd thought, Panchito dressed himself quickly and made to leave his room so that he could meet up with the mentioned duck family that was probably already downstairs at the breakfast buffet. Today he remembered to take his wallet with him right away.

He was right when he saw the table of white feathered aves sitting around a round table munching on their breakfast. After having collected his own fill of food, Panchito, with a giant grin on his beak, approached their table and greeted them with an excited, „ _¡Buenos días, mis amigos!_ I hope you slept well and are enjoying your meal!“

The family graced him with raised eyebrows, differing from a vast spectrum of mild surprise at his sudden appearance, to annoyance at his chipper attitude this early in the morning, and to irritation at his presence in general. Webby and Launchpad were the only ones to greet him with a beaming smile of their own. Not letting the lacklustre mood get to him, Panchito grabbed a chair from an empty table next to theirs and sat down in between Donald and Scrooge.

 

Scrooge huffed and grumbled something indistinguishable beneath his breath before continuing eating his croissant and drinking his tea while studying his notebook with the scripture translations. Going by his frown, he hadn’t had much success in translating them so far.

Donald looked at the rooster with a lifted brow, wondering how he managed to be this happy in the morning, „Someone woke up pretty chipper.“

Panchito laughed good-naturedly, clapping the duck on the back, „I am an early riser, _mi amigo_. Waking with the sun. It lies in my nature, as well as through a years-long habit of getting up early to help around on the ranch _. Toda mi familia_ , actually. We would wake up together, have a big hearty breakfast and then get to work. Most of the time, however,  _mis hermanos é yo_ would cause more havoc around the farm than actually help around. I remember that one time where _mi hermana_ Alejandra dared me to ride a bull. And of course, I won. _Ahhh, esos eran todavía tiempos.~_ “ He leaned back with an amused chuckle at his wild childhood memories. He looked at Donald, who was currently taking a sip from his black coffee and having a kind of faraway look in his blue eyes.

„You alright, _bonito_?“ he asked, a little concerned at the mixture of nostalgic emotions on his face, yet not knowing if they were either the good or the bad kind.

Donald shook his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts and let out a wistful sigh as he looked at the rooster, „Yes, I am fine. What you said just reminded me of the time I spent as a kid at Grandma Duck’s farm, together with my sister and my cousins.“

 

The kids shot their heads up at the sudden admittance from their uncle, never having heard anything of this. Their uncle’s past was still such a big obscure mystery to them. And the triplets slowly realised this with each passing day spent with their Uncle Scrooge. However, their great-uncle didn’t know everything about Donald as he hadn’t been a major part for many years of his life. And it was here in Rio, in the company of those funky Latino birds, that those mysteries were slowly unveiled. And not because Donald thought it necessary to tell them about his past. It kind of hurt to learn about these important family things in such a secondary way.

 

Scrooge had looked up at the mention of the older duck, „Ah, Aye remember those times as well. Ye four were a rowdy bunch. But at least ye and Della were some actual help to her, not like that slacker of yer cousin, Gladstone.“

Donald snorted while taking a bite from his fried egg, pointing his fork at the older drake, „He wasn’t actually that bad back then….“ He then paused as if rethinking his own words before he scrunched his beak in loathing. „Yeah no fine, he was that bad. I just managed to stand him more - because I had no other choice - but it really wasn’t that he ‚slacked off‘. His luck would just do most of the work for him,“ he grumbled with obvious aggravation lacing his tone. With that same frustration, he stabbed his fork into the yolk of his fried egg, causing the yellow liquid to spill out and pool around his plate.

Scrooge rolled his eyes, „Bah! Lucky or not, the lad could really use tae learn how to do some hard work for once. Who knows when he will run out of his luck? And then what? The laddie is so dependent on his good luck that he wouldn’t even know how tae tie his own shoes.“

The expression that Donald wore at this very moment couldn’t be described with any other word than just pure sadistic glee, „If it ever were to come to that, you can rest assured that I will be the first one to make his life hell. I will put him through all the same excruciating things that he made me do.“

The two uncles shared a meaningful look followed by some low chuckling.

 

Louie leaned over to Huey, whispering lowly, „Uncle Donald and Uncle Scrooge sure harbour some major resentment towards Uncle Gladstone just because of his good luck. We sure they aren’t evil? Because I am slowly starting to fear for Uncle Gladstone’s lucky tail feathers.“ He pointed towards their still chuckling uncles, a confused Panchito sitting in between them and looking back and forth between the two malicious ducks. The poor boy had no idea with which kind of family he had just acquainted himself with.

Huey looked at their uncles, assessing them silently before whispering quietly back so that the two adults wouldn’t hear him, „Maybe keep Uncle Gladstone on speed dial…. Just in case.“

Louie nodded in agreement and procured his phone to do just that.

 

„ _Familia_ , right?! I mean they can be so annoying and tiring most of the time, but you still love them. Right?“ said Panchito with a warm, hearty laugh, obviously interpreting the conversation between the two ducks as mere dark humorous teasing.

„Right,“ agreed Donald and Scrooge with strained smiles. If Panchito noticed, he didn’t show it and just kept on finishing his breakfast.

 

The rest of their morning was spent with amiable chatter from then onwards. No Gladstone was further mentioned or threatened.

 

~~~***~~~

 

„So, how long are you planning on staying in Rio?“ asked Panchito as casually as he could, stepping up next to Donald who was staring out of the window of the cable car they were currently in, and over the big Brazilian city. With some well thought through plan, Panchito had managed to get Donald alone into a cable car with him and away from his family, who took the cart before theirs, effectively allowing him to spend some 30 minutes alone with the cute duck.

Donald looked at him, smiling a little ruefully as he said, „If I know my uncle, we’re probably going to leave either tomorrow or the day after. We have plans, and Rio is more of a stopover rather than the main destination.“

Panchito felt his long tail feathers drop in dismay having thought he would have more time with the other male, „So soon?“

„Yeah, it is pretty unfortunate…“ Donald looked back out the window, his wistful smile turning soft and happy, „Rio really is beautiful.“

Leaning against the sturdy window Panchito admired the beautiful view in front of him, and he didn’t mean the city landscape.

„What a shame though. I hoped I would get to spend more time with you,“ he said, not afraid to admit his feeling outright. He had never been, and it was both a blessing and a curse at times. He just hoped that it would now present itself as a blessing.

 

Donald looked back up at him, meeting his dark amber eyes with a mixture of amusement, surprise and uncertainty. Panchito silently cursed the scheming parrot from yesterday as it is because of his dirty intentions of robbing the ducks, that Donald became so guarded with him, subsequently making his efforts to get closer to the other male all the harder.

„I am not that interesting,“ he said matter-of-factly, copying Panchito’s pose and leaning against the window of the cable car, arms crossed in front of his chest. Panchito tilted his head to the side, regarding the smaller man curiously and wondering why he would say something like this so nonchalantly.

„I wouldn’t say that. You seem very much interesting to me. There is something about you that intrigues me. I can’t really say what it is yet, but if you are willing I would like to find out,“ he drawled, smiling his most charming smile. And he was telling the truth. He may know Donald for less than a whole day, but the duck really had something about him that pulled him in like a moth to the flame. And it wasn’t only his beautiful eyes that were just as blue and as deep as the sea and his pearly white feathers that were so soft to the touch. His personality was still a mystery at large to him, aside from having a rather dry and dark humour and loving his family, going by how he takes care of his nephews while on vacation. He must really love his sister to let them, and their friend, tag along on his trip.

  

Donald scoffed good naturally, looking at him with unimpressed yet amused eyes, „Do you always use this pick-up line on anyone that gets your attention?“

Panchito grinned right back, the duck’s answer not outrightly denying his advances, „Only the cute ones that I really do find interesting, _bonito._ “

Donald narrowed his eyes at him and turned his head to look back out of the window. He didn’t say anything and weren’t it for the small smile and chuckle slipping from his beak, Panchito would have thought he was cruelly shot down. Panchito didn’t keep the pleased grin from sliding onto his beak, very much satisfied for earning this subtle affirmative response to his flirtations.

Donald may play hard to get, but that wouldn’t keep him from trying as long as the duck showed positive responses to his advances.

 

Turning his head to look at the amazing landscape as well, Panchito started humming a familiar little tune as his good mood often urged him to do.

The small, shy smile on a certain Pekin's face didn’t go unnoticed and reinforced the rooster’s good mood, and determination to win the other man over by the time they had to part ways.

 

The cable car leisurely made its way up to the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain where the rest of the duck family, except for three small ducklings, was already patiently waiting for the two of them to join their little group. And once they did, the family was met with a softly smiling Donald Duck and a red feathered Mexican rooster who grinned in growing triumph.

The triplets didn’t like what they saw, however.

 

~~~***~~~

 

„So, where are you even planning on going after?“ asked Panchito two hours later, as they made their way through the streets of the Botafogo neighbourhood. His inquisitive question gained him such a sharp and distrusting glare from Scrooge, who had snapped his head so suddenly around to him, that Panchito had to take a step back from the elderly duck, not knowing what he had said that gained him this vehement reaction.  

„Oh, we’re planning on taking a trip into the Amazon,“ supplied Webby helpfully yet not revealing too much of their actual plan.

Panchito perked up in interest, grinning widely, „That sounds _excitante_! I wish I could go as well! It sure sounds like an adventure!“

„So? Why don’t you?“ asked Launchpad.

 

Panchito opened his beak, obviously trying to protest or to explain as to why he couldn’t before he snapped it with a clacking sound shut again, mulling over Launchpad’s words.

Sí, why didn’t he? It wouldn’t be the first time he made an impromptu decision like this. And who knows what will await him in the depths of the wild Brazilian jungle? What mysteries? What legends? Maybe this was the chance of finally getting that big adventure he had always wanted!

Excitement started cursing through his body, making his blood pump in exhilaration as the idea began to sound more and more inviting.

 

Behind him Louie groaned to his brothers, „Great, now Launchpad encouraged him, and he’s probably thinking about joining us.“

Scrooge couldn’t agree more with his youngest nephew as he stiffly turned his head towards Launchpad (the kids could swear that they could hear the bones in his neck creak like an old rusty machine), now staring him down with dark eyes ablaze in angered displeasure. Launchpad smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he uttered an apologetic, „Sorry, Mr McDee.“

 

Donald rolled his eyes at them and continued walking down the relatively quiet street, not really looking forward to hearing his uncle having a fit on whether the rooster was allowed to join them or not. Honestly, he would welcome the rooster’s company, just to get a rise out of Scrooge and have someone to talk to aside from his family. The subtle flirtation and compliments that Panchito kept throwing at him were, of course, a small bonus to his ego. It was nice to have someone appreciate him for once.

Looking back in front of him, Donald, however, halted at what stood only a few feet in front of him.

Or rather who.

He only faintly registered his uncle slamming into his back at his sudden stilled form, demanding peevishly why he had stopped walking. However, it didn’t take long for the rest of the ducks and Panchito to realise what made him stop.

 

Panchito immediately moved up next to Donald, straightening himself to his full height and crossing his arms in front of his chest as he glared balefully at the man in front of them.

Scrooge came up on Donald’s other side, brows furrowed deeply and hands authoritatively placed on top of his cane.

The kids scurried behind Donald, holding on to his legs and peeking out from under and around him at the one person they hoped to never see again after yesterday.

Launchpad remained standing at the back, still not really knowing what was going on but sharing in the collective anger all the same.

Donald crossed his arms in front of his chest, his gaze hard and cold as he stared the man in front him down, „What do you want? You are not welcome.“

 

 A few steps in front of them, José Carioca spread his arms out as if trying to pacify them, „ _Meu amigos_ , I think, as you Americans say, got off on the wrong foot yesterday. How about we-“

Donald scoffed, interrupting him in his poor excuse, „We’re not your friends. And you really have to thank yourself for that. We have nothing left to say to you, so do us all a favour and just crawl back into the dark, foul pit where you came from.“

The kids hissed at their uncle’s sharp remark, sharing amused chuckles between each other. They knew that Uncle Donald could hand it out but not as verbally as this. They were quite impressed. Pleasantly so, even.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

José flinched at Donald’s sharp remark. Okay, maybe that really wasn’t the best way to start this conversation. But he needed to get them to listen to him. He was pretty sure that once they heard what he had to say they would think twice about not talking to him anymore. He jumped in panic when the group turned away from him and started ushering the kids away from him.

„Wait! Please wait!“ called José desperately when the group turned away from him in disdain. He rushed in front of them spreading his arms out in an attempt to stop them from walking away from him. The adults instantly pulled the four kids behind their backs once more, obviously growing nervous at his intense effort to speak with them.

The rooster lifted his arms, readying himself for a fight.

„I am warning you, _loro_. If you don’t go away in the next few minutes or stop following us, I will not hold back from punching you right in the face. _And believe me, I really want to right now_ ,“ he hissed warningly. José rolled his eyes at him. He did not want to fight that buffoon.

He just wanted to talk, _droga_!

„Look, I just want to say that I-„ he began once more.

 

The ducks made to turn away from him for a third time, ignoring him entirely, but José won’t let them that easily.

“I can read the map!” he finally cried out. Everyone froze at what he just admitted and turned back to look at the huffing parrot.

Scrooge narrowed his eyes at him in distrustful disbelief, taking a step towards him. Pointing his cane at the Brazilian, he grumbled a low, “Say that again, laddie?”

José straightened himself back up. Squaring his shoulders, he returned Scrooge’s glare with a defiant stare of his own.

“You heard me. I can read the map,” he repeated, his tone calm yet sure of his capability to do said task.

 

Arms still angrily crossed in front of his chest, Donald tilted his head in thought, not sure how to take this new revelation. The kids, Launchpad and Panchito weren’t any better off, looking at each other in confusion and uncertainty.

Scrooge remained stoic, asking harshly, “How can we be sure that you’re telling the truth?”

José held his gaze as he made to grasp for something from beneath his hat. When he procured whatever it was, he revealed it to be an old, well-used leader-bound notebook. Its pages were worn at the edges and the leather was already starting to break at the seams.

He held it up to them so that they could see it, before opening the book at a specific page that he had bookmarked with a light blue feather. He then held the book back up again showing the opened page. There was a sketch of two of those symbols depicted on Scrooge’s map, as well as some extensive notes and explanations in Portuguese written down right next to them.

 

Scrooge's eyes widened at what he saw. It really were the same symbols that he had been trying to identify all night yesterday, yet was unable to find any proper translation to despite the ones they received from the shrines back in the museum. He needed that book! He needed the translations! Or else he wouldn’t be able to find El Dorado!

 

“Hand me that!” he demanded while trying to grab it, but Zé was quick to pull the book back and out of the elder’s reach. “Nah ah, senhor McPato. I’m not giving up my grandmother’s priced notebook that easily.”

Scrooge narrowed his eyes had him even more. If looks could kill, the parrot would be a pile of burning ashes and toasted feathers by now.

“Then what do you want?” he asked through gritted teeth.

José waved the notebook teasingly beside his head, “Going by the few symbols that I saw yesterday, I can say with certainty that whatever you’re looking for must be a really invaluable _tesouro._ ” He couldn’t help the self-satisfied grin that slipped onto his beak at the elderly duck’s enraged expression, “And whatever that treasure is, I want a part of it.”

 

Scrooge waved his cane at him threateningly, screaming in outrage, “Yer aff yer heid if ye think tha’ ah’m goin’ tae take some street parrot tha' tried tae rob me and me family of our money on sum adventure! Aye surly will nae le’ you hae a piece of me treasure! We’ll just try tae find oot what those symbols mean withoot yer wee notebook and just a’ someone else!”

While the thick Scottish accent lacing Scrooge’s words confused every one apart from Donald and apparently José, said parrot calmly watched on, seemingly undeterred by the old mallard’s outburst. When Scrooge was finished, he smirked once more as if he already knew something that they didn’t, “I know that you won’t.”

“An’ how no’!?” snapped Scrooge, his patience slowly running thin with that crafty bird.

 

José waved the notebook around once more, “Because those symbols? They belong to an ancient and long, loooong, forgotten tribe that used to live deep in the Amazon. There is no written information on anything about that tribe, their long-dead language or their scriptures. Just this little, very old _caderno_ that I’m currently holding in my hand.”

He looked Scrooge straight in the eyes, “So if you want to get to your treasure you’ll need me to translate that map. And since I’m pretty sure that you won’t let me read that map in one go in fear that I somehow would make off with the treasure by myself, I, in turn, will also not translate everything at once, so that I will remain a necessity to you. Also, I’m the only that can communicate with the indigenous tribes in the Amazon, were you to run into some.”

 

‘That sleekit hustler is too smart for his own good,’ seethed Scrooge.

Trying to compose himself, he then asked a little more calmly, “If it is such an ancient tribe that there are no records of any kind of it, then how come you have those notes in the first place?”

José shrugged his shoulders with a teasing smile, “Family secret.”

At the glare that he received from both Scrooge and his nephews (and that interfering tomato of a chicken), José conceded with an annoyed clack of his beak and made to explain.

“Alright, fine. _Meu família_ has always been interested in the ancient traditions and rites of old and occult cultures, especially those that have been gone for a long time. Sounds _macabro_ but it’s kind of a family tradition by itself now. _Meu bisavó_ , my great-grandmother, was especially taken with this tribe, the ancient tribe of the Aracuan. She travelled far into the Amazon, learned to speak and understand the tribes that still inhabited the wild jungle so that she could learn more about the Aracuan. After years of hard work and extensive research and travelling, she finally managed to gather all the information she needed and wrote them down into this notebook.” He lovingly tapped the book with his last words.

 

The group listened on to his tale with fascination, though one question remained.

“Why didn’t she publish it? She would have made a lot of money with that kind of discovery,” pointed Huey out.

José gave them a nearly condescending expression, “She could have yes. So could have everyone in my family. But they were too respectful of the ancient religions and the tribes still living in the Amazon to actually go through with it.” 

“But the world has changed since then. Especially fields like archaeology and history make more of an attempt to stay respectful of the ancient cultures,” said Webby.

José shrugged once more, “That may be. Honestly, I haven’t touched those books since _avó_ died, nor did I ever thought about publishing them. So, if we find whatever it is you’re looking for, I at least ask this small favour of you, _senhor McPato_. To stay respectful of the ancient grounds and to not tempt with the old religions.”

His demand held a threatening tone, though it carried more of a warning to not mess with said old religions in fear of divine retribution than an actual threat that he personally would make true off. He did not tell them about the _other_ notes recorded at the back of the notebook, because that was still considered personal family matter and was the actual reason as to why those notebooks were never published.

 

Scrooge still seemed reluctant to believe him but what better options did he have? If what José said was true then he was their only key to get to El Dorado. And if he wasn’t? Where in the name of Selene, would he find someone that did know about that ancient tripe and would help them translate the scriptures that fast without asking too many questions? Or money.

 

Yet, before he could take any definite decision, Donald stepped forward, his blue eyes hard and still holding the anger and sadness of yesterday’s betrayal inside of them.

José flinched a little at his expression, looking genuinely guilty for what happened the day before.

„Before we make any decision, answer me this. Why do you do all of this? Is it just because of the money? Why are you so adamant on coming with us? This adventure will be dangerous, and you could get gravely hurt. There is even a high chance that we wont fond anything at all,“ he demanded while crossing his arms in front of his chest.

 

José sighed and looked down at the opened page of his notebook, picking the blue feather back up and twirling it in between his fingers.

„ _Tudo bem_ , I’ll be honest with you. Since you’ll have to trust me with this I might as well return the favour.“ He looked up into Donald’s clear blue eyes, „I do all of this because of the money? Yes, but the real reason behind it is not the _dinheiro_ itself, but my _irmãzinha,_ my little sister.“ He held up the blue feather.

Donald’s glare softened a little at that, instantly reminded of Della. So did the others but they all kept their suspicious composure in case it was just another deception from the parrot.

 

„My sister and I didn’t really grow up in conventional conditions. Our parents died young, leaving us with our grandmother, who died only a few years after. From a very young age, I had to take care of my baby sister, providing for her even though I was still just a _criança_ myself. And life as children in the favela wasn’t easy,“ he looked at the ground, the usually so calm and cool expression on his face had grown hard and was filled with pent up anger.

„I had to sacrifice a lot. I did everything to keep my sister out of that life so that she could be allowed to do and have everything that I didn’t have the privilege of.“

He then fished out his wallet and pulled out an old, folded up photograph. After having unfolded it carefully, he turned it around and showed it to the family of ducks (and tag-along Panchito). The picture showed a young José, maybe around his mid-teens, while hugging a smaller and much younger parrot into his side, as they sat atop a small wall that overlooked the city. It was probably taken atop the Corcovado mountain next to the famous Christ statue. Both were laughing brightly into the camera.

While the smaller parrot was indeed a girl, her plumage was a vibrant sky blue with a lighter shaded underside, a light-grey coloured beak and talons, and her eye-colour a light turquoise. Despite their differences in colour, their family resemblance was uncanny. They had the same shape for their beaks and eyes, and the same cheeky smile.

 

Donald looked back into José’s maroon red eyes, seeing the desperation inside of them. The calm and collected parrot, with his charming suaveness from yesterday was gone and replaced by this desperate man who frantically tried to get them to let him join them.

„I would do anything for her, Donal’. No matter the cost! She is currently in her last year of college and pregnant, without a father around to help her! (‚ _Because that son of a bitch left her to fend for their children alone!_ ’ He hissed under his breath.) She has a side-job, but there is only so much she can do alone. I’ll help her, of course, to make sure that her and my future _sobrinhos ou sobrinhas_ will have a secure life so that they won’t have to live through what we had to. Getting this chance of gaining the big money will allow us both to put this life behind us, but especially her and the kids. _Por favor_ , you have to believe me. I apologize for everything I did yesterday and I would have never tried to trick you, weren’t it for all of this. _“_

Donald looked down at his triplets, who looked just as distressed about the parrot’s backstory as him. Everything that José just told them made him remember everything that he had done for and still would do for Della.

He looked at his uncle Scrooge, who had a constipated look on his face as he was most likely remembering his own sister, Hortense, Donald and Della’s mother, and Della herself, as well. Scrooge met his gaze and with a heavy sigh gave him a subtle nod.

Donald looked back at José, who was holding his breath in anticipation and looking at them with those wide, nervous eyes, fearing that the ducks would still refuse his help. Donald released a deep sigh, some of yesterday’s anger escaping alongside with it.

 

„Believe me, I understand what you mean really well. You can come along-„ he started but was then interrupted as José rushed forward and pulled him into a tight hug, chanting relieved ‚ _Obrigado_ ’-s into his neck feathers. If there had still been any doubt about the truth of his story, then that was now gone with how purely relived, and thankful José sounded. But just to be sure…..

„But, as I was just about to say.“ He continued, pushing José slightly away from him, „Just to make sure that you really are not trying to trick us again, we’ll take Panchito with us. I’m sure he will keep an eye on you.“ He finished. He tried to keep his controlled expression from slipping into a self-satisfied smirk at the flat look that the parrot just gave him at his announcement of this impromptu decision of his.

Panchito meanwhile had straightened up at his words, eyes wide in surprise and sparkling with growing excitement.

„You will?!“ He asked completely thrilled, Scrooge and the triplets echoing his question in the background, „We will?!“

He felt elated at the prospect of getting his South America adventure after all. And while in the company of Donald no less!

Donald grinned back at the rooster, not minding that he was still in the embrace of the green feathered Brazilian, „You wanted to go on an adventure, right? So, here is your chance.“

The joyous _grito_ that Panchito let out after that was so loud that it drew the attention of everyone within a 500 feet radius, and making all of the ducks jump in surprise at the sudden unexpected, and _very loud_ , sound coming from the Mexican.

 

José looked at Panchito in subtle aggravation. The rooster in turn only bestowed him with a shit-eating grin. Donald looked back at José with a challenging smile, daring him to protest against his decision.

José clicked his beak, pretending to think about doing just that before he thought better of it by addressing the duck with the same handsome and charming smile that he gave him on their very first meeting. Gone is the frazzled and desperate parrot from mere moments ago, and welcomed back by the all suave and charming José Carioca.

„Fair enough,“ he said with a lazy smile before leaning forward and planting a kiss at the corner of the Pekin's beak. „ _Muito obrigado por me aceitar, meu bem,_ “ he purred against his downy white cheek before pulling away, charming smile still in place. „I mean it, _meu amigo_. It may take a while, but I hope you will learn to forgive me in due time.“

 

Donald’s white feathers did a really poor job at hiding his burning face. He may still not entirely trust José until he has proven himself worthy of his trust once more, but that didn’t mean he was completely immune to his charming personality and handsome good looks. He forced an annoyed frown onto his face to hide the smile that was trying to wobble its way onto his beak.

Because he knew he was failing, miserably I might add, he pushed the grinning parrot’s face away with his palm, grumbling a soft, „Who told you, you can do that?“ and received a devious and bemused snicker in response.

 

Meanwhile, everyone behind Donald was gaping in shock at what had just transpired in front of them. Usually, Donald would have pummelled anyone into a pulp for even trying to do that without his permission. But not José apparently.

Scrooge had something close to a brain short-circuit. His triplets were speechless and rethinking everything they knew about their uncle. Launchpad just looked surprised, not having thought that Donald played for the same team. Panchito stood there aghast, cursing that damned parrot inside his mind for being that bold (and then even getting away with it!). He had been trying to get closer to the duck this whole day and here the parrot is stealing his kiss away from him. Pesky thief!

And Webby? She had an intrigued glint in her eyes as she looked back and forth between each member of their little group. Oh, she’s going to take so many notes during their adventure~!

 

José straightened himself back up, adjusting his jacket and hat as he smiled at everyone as if he hadn’t just kissed the still blushing duck right in front of all of them.

„Well then~ How about I start making it up to you, by showing you around Rio some more? This time for real and with good intentions.“ He winked at Donald at that, who only scrunched his beak in response, still not over the kiss.

Scrooge shaking himself out from his stupor, pointed a finger right at him, „Wait now here, laddie! Ye promised tae translate the map, so ye will. Aye want tae go look for the golden city as soon as possible!“

The Brazilian lifted his hand peacefully, „And I will, Senhor McPato. However, how about we leave that for tomorrow? There are still a few things I need to arrange before I can go with you and that will take a good half a day. So how about we just enjoy our reconciliation, with me inviting you to a real _festa brasileira_? Then I can show you real Brazilian music and dances befitting for _carnaval_! And don’t worry, _crianças_ , are allowed in as well.“

He looked at the four children with a wide, friendly smile, hoping they would like his idea. While the triplets didn’t really seem that excited to spend more time with the flashy Brazilian parrot as they actually needed to, they sure wanted to see what their parties were like, so they agreed with loud cheers and whoops alongside Webby. Launchpad joined in of course.

Knowing that he had already lost the argument thanks to his nephews’ eagerness to go to that festivity, and looking at Donald revealed the same excitement just a little more controlled, Scrooge let out a deep annoyed sigh and conceded, „Fine….“

 

José grinned and tapped his umbrella twice on the ground before pointing it in the direction of the beach. „Well then, let me take you to Ipanema, _meu amigos_! There you will experience the best clubs that Rio has to offer!“

„Ipanema? I heard that it is a very wealthy district. You sure you can afford to invite all of us… _amigo_?“ noted Panchito, and going by the grin that he wore he was obviously making an acidic gibe on his thieving nature.

However, José didn’t let Panchito’s comment get to him and shot him a self-assured grin in return.

“Ah, my friend~! Lucky for you, you know José Carioca! And José knows everyone in Rio de Janeiro!”

 

Panchito very much doubted that. Watching how José stirred the ducks in the direction he wanted them to go, Panchito waited until the family was a good few feet in front of them before grabbing the parrot by the scruff of his jacket and pulling him closer, glaring down at him warningly, „ _I am warning you, thief. One wrong move. One ill-intention and I will gladly beat you into a pulp. And keep away from Donald, he doesn’t deserve a liar like you._ “

 

José lifted his hands in front of him in a pacifistic manner, showing the rooster that he didn’t mean any harm, yet he did not lose the too sly grin, „ _Ahhhh I promise won’t do anything of the likes again. Not to them at least. Can’t promise the same thing for others._ “ He gave Panchito a pointed look, sly grin turning shit-eating once more and Panchito narrowed his eyes at him in distrust „ _As for Donal’~ He is fair game, meu amigo. You’re just jealous I got to kiss him, and you didn’t~._ “

José was fortunately quick enough to wrench himself out of Panchito’s hold before the rooster was able to deck him for his teasing remark. José chuckled mischievously, turning around as he started sashaying back over to the group, head held high with triumphant pride as he remarked, „ _This is my city, pollito. And here, I am king. You better try to keep up or else I will steal Donal’ right out from under your nose just as I stole this_.“

Panchito was just barely able to catch whatever the parrot threw back at him and looking down at it he realised that it was his wallet that the parrot must have nicked from him just mere moments ago. When he looked back up to give the parrot a good piece of his mind, he saw him already back at Donald’s side, talking to him with his charming smile back in place.

 

Panchito growled, clenching his wallet tightly in his fist as he watched José throw him one last triumphant look over his shoulder, before flaring his red and blue tail feathers in pride and provocation.

Oh, he really wanted to wring that parrot’s neck.

‚ _You want a challenge? Then you’ll get one!_ ‘

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who are interested, I created a Tumblr mostly dedicated to DuckTales where I will also update notifications about this story, as well as some of my own art. (I already posted some)  
> The name of my new blog is: fiederspiel
> 
> Translations:  
> Muito obrigado por me aceitar, meu bem (port.) - Thank you, for accepting me, honey
> 
> Easter Eggs:
> 
> • Arara; Arapaso - real indigenous tribes living in the Amazon forrest  
> • Aracuan - I am pretty sure that most of you know who will appear later on in the story when this specific name was mentioned. Hint: he sings a pretty catchy tune  
> • the other notes in Zé's notebook (the one he doesn't mention to the family of ducks) - for those who have a keen sense to detect foreshadowing, you may already get what I am hinting at here (though I won't reveal anything about the truth behind his reluctance to show these notes for several more chapters to come)  
> • Grito - a common Mexican exclamation, used to express joy or excitement; Panchito does it a lot in TTC and TLOTTC  
> • Zé's sister - don't worry she is real and not another one of his schemes. In the comics José has two nephews, Zico and Zeca, therefore Zé either has a brother or a sister, so I went with a sister. Her appearance is based on the Spix macaw which was also used as an inspiration for Blue and Jewel from the movie 'Rio' (I rewatched the movie because first, Rio; second, birds and third, good music, hoping that it would give me some ideas for the story. And it did!) As such she is also a trope to that parrot species as they have apparently become officially extinct in the wild (sth that the movie tried to make awareness off.)  
> • Scrooge's Scottish accent - I tried okay. I may be studying in Scotland and be confronted with the language 24/7. That doesn't mean, however, that I know how to write the accents accurately. I just wanted to accentuate that when Scrooge is angry, he falls back into his mother tongue (as we all surely do... Well I do). I also headcanon that Donald understands him perfectly thanks to years-long exposure to his uncle's accent. Maybe even speaking a little bit himself because they have great cuss words and Scrooge thaught him and Della, of course, how to embrace their Scottish heritage.  
> • "Lucky for you, you know José Carioca! And José knows everyone in Rio de Janeiro!” - a line taken from the Rio movie which was said by Rafael (I envision José to be a mix between Rafael and Nico)
> 
> That's everything for now! I hope you liked! I will get back with Part 2 soon! Until then have a good time!


	4. Part 2: I wanna samba

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Wheezes* I am never going to make a promise on when I am going to update ever again because, apparently, I can't keep them for shit. This chapter is a week late but a lot has happened this week and I simply didn't have the time. And when I finally got to editing, I nearly rewrote half of it.  
> But alas it is here, and guys, this chapter is nearly 10.000 words long (how the hell did I manage that?!)  
> Also, I re-edited the previous chapters and added some more 'easter eggs' where I forgot them.
> 
> I hope the delay was worth your patience in the end.  
> (Though there won't be an update for quite some time because I have to prepare for my exams)
> 
> But for now: Enjoy~

„So…. What kind of festival is that we are going to?” asked Donald curiously.

“My friend, we don’t really need a reason to celebrate. This is just an event to bring some life into a month that is usually just so void of national festivities, and allowing us to just celebrate the glory of the Brazilian summer without the many tourists around as it would be during the winter season,” explained José, twirling his umbrella in his right hand as they leisurely strolled through the streets of Copacabana and towards Ipanema, “The  _barracas_ at the beaches, and the  _cafés_ and  _discotecas_ along the esplanade are hosting this event as a community, yet each has their own theme to offer more diversity so that there is enough for everyone’s musical taste. There is going to be all kinds of music. From traditional to techno, from classic to rock. And of course all sorts of drinks. I recommend the _Caipirinhas_. You will get no better anywhere else. There are of course many non-alcoholic drinks for the  _crianças_ as well.”

 

„Kinda weird to hear you say that. I always have to remind myself that it’s the other way around for the Southern Hemisphere concerning seasons“ said Dewey, moving his hands in a circular motion.

„Yeah but then again, winter here in Rio de Janeiro isn’t the same as we know it. The change in temperate isn’t really that different, that’s why it makes it such a popular vacation destination all year round,“ supplied Webby matter-of-factly.

José looked down at her with an approving smile, „That‘s right,  _menina_. You are a smart one aren’t you?“

Webby grinned as she came skipping up next to the Brazilian, „ _Obrigado_ , I make it my unofficial duty to always read up on the different destinations we travel to. I want to learn as much about the world as possible! All the amazing and beautiful places, the different and interesting cultures and of course the history and mysteries surrounding them!“

 

„Ahhhh  _uma garota_ after my own heart~ What you do is really great and considerate, you know? I mean one can learn so much of the world and the people by just studying their culture and language. One has to be very openminded and willing to respect others differences to do that.“ Everyone looked at him with impressed surprise written all over their faces. Except for Webby who was grinning widely up at Zé.

„ _Quê?_ I may be a thief, but I am a sophisticated thief.  _Além_ _disso,_  my sister is studying social sciences with history, and I regularly help her with her studies,“ said Zé with a fake affronted tone, even fluffing his feathers up in indignation to look the part.

 

He then leaned down to the little duckling still walking next to him and secretively whispered to her, „And it helps with my schemes. People are more trusting and so much easier to be fooled when you know their language and their respective cultures.“

Webby giggled when that little admission gained the parrot a warning punch to his shoulder by Donald, who frowned at him disapprovingly. José only addressed him with a faux-innocent smile. The duck only rolled his eyes at him and walked past him. It didn’t even take half a second for Panchito to take up José’s place at the drake’s side, throwing the parrot yet another disapproving glare.

It seemed that he would have to get used to this kind of treatment for the time being.

 

When the others were a few steps away, Webby tugged at Zé‘s jacket to gain his attention once more, „Would you teach me some of your tricks? You know like stealing things without others noticing or being all cool and smooth while lying?“

The mischievous glint returned into Zé‘s eyes as he regarded her, very much intrigued by her question, „Why would you want to learn all that,  _menina_?”

Webby crossed her arms behind her backs, copying Zé’s innocent smile, “Oh you know. In case I ever need to steal something back from a bad guy. Louie also told me that I still needed to work on my lying and bluffs.”

The parrot raised a brow, looking very much concerned when she said that, “Does that happen a lot then? You feeling the need to lie and steal, I mean.”

Webby laughed at his question as if it was absurd that he even had to ask to begin with, “You have no idea.”

Her eyes grew wider as she excitedly started telling about the predicaments they always got themselves into, “I don’t have enough hands to count how many times we had to bluff our way around potential death encounters with the enemy of the week, or how many times we could have prevented things from turning to the worst if we could have just stolen the artefacts back. Without them noticing.”

 

The parrot looked now even more concerned. He knew that Scrooge McDuck had earned a lot of his money by travelling around the world and finding many lost treasures. And that those travels held many dangers for him. But was he really putting the lives of his great-nephews and their friend at such high risks only for money? For the thrill of adventure?

Worry took a hold of him once more because the four of them were just kids, not even teenagers yet. The little girl in front of him reminded him so much of his younger sister. Full of life and desire to learn about the world around her that he couldn’t do anything to help quench the protective emotions welling up inside him. And she was only a couple years older than his sister had been when he had to take full responsibility for her upbringing.

 

It really didn’t occur to him until now what those trips could mean for the small ducklings, what with him having been too focused on the prospect of gaining the big money and or Donald, to pay any real attention or consideration on the little ones that followed the mallard adorably around.

He felt ashamed and angry at himself because if those four were his sister, he would be ripping his hair feathers out off his head because of stress and anxiety. He would have to ask Donald about all this. About how he could allow Scrooge to take them with him, or how Donald himself could let them go off on such dangerous expeditions so easily. However, that would have to wait for another day as he really couldn’t afford to gain even more of their ire directed at him, by criticising their choice of parenting.

Zé knew that he probably couldn’t talk Scrooge McDuck out of taking them with him on his trips, but he would do everything in his might to help them face and overcome the dangers of tomorrow even if that included teaching them how to swindle their way out of things.

 

So, forcing his worries into the far back of his mind, Zé put his trademark smile back onto his face and offered the little girl at his side a playful grin, “Well then,  _querida_. It would be my pleasure to teach you how to be a professional thief and liar.”

Webby smiled brightly up at him, triumphantly fist pumping the air in her excitement, while she remained none the wiser about Zé’s inner turmoil as a responsible and very much worried big brother figure.

 

~~~***~~

 

When they reached the beach promenade of Ipanema, the sun had already started to make its descent across the blue Brazilian sky, dyeing the horizon in soft orange and pink tones. In front of them, the white beach was painted in additional colourful lights, thanks to the several fairy lights and neon lights strung up between the different  _barracas_ , umbrellas and palm trees. The warm evening wind carried the sound of lively music and joyous chattering over to them. And on the white sand, a multitude of brilliantly coloured people was moving and dancing merrily to the musical tunes.

It was indeed a beautiful sight.

 

José strutted past everyone with his head held high with pride and a smug grin on his beak. He was very much proud of how his beloved home managed time and time again to awe tourist all around the world by showing them the true nature of Brazilian heart and soul.

Gracefully spinning back around to them and tipping his hat from his head while the other arm was extended outward in a presenting manner, he said, „ _Bem vindo à festa~_ Here you will find anything that Rio has to offer you. Brilliant music, delicious food and drinks and amazing company~“ at his last remark he wiggled his brows suggestively at the sailor standing only a foot in front of him.

Donald scoffed at him, even rolling his eyes to show the parrot that he wasn’t impressed. Panchito and the rest, except for Webby and Launchpad, unconsciously mimicked his reaction. However, Zé won’t let that disappointing reaction deter him in any way. Putting his hat back on top his head, Zé motioned with a head tilt towards the beach party, „Well then, what are we waiting for?“

 

The kids didn’t need to be told twice and already ran towards the beach. Donald didn’t even try to call them back or to warn them about possible muggers because they knew how to handle themselves well enough by now. So, they opted to follow José through the moderately packed beach towards where they didn’t know, but he seemed to have a specific destination in mind.

They got their answer when a few steps further down the beach, a man hollered José’s name over the loud music, „ _Ei, Zé! Você veio depois de tudo, seu velho vigarista!_ “ Zé grinned as he made his over to a tan-furred, dark-haired dog operating one of the  _barracas_ , greeting him just a jovially, „ _Pedrão! Como você está meu querido amigo!?_ “

The two men pulled each other into a companionable hug.

 

The group behind Zé watched awkwardly how the two conversed animatedly in rapid Portuguese, grinning and chuckling through it all the time. Then the parrot must have asked his friend a question because the taller man then pointed to his right towards where the DJ table was situated on a little elevated stage, managed by a black feathered young vulture with black headphones on.

José turned back to his canine friend, drumming his fingers on the wooden booth as he said something else to him with a wide grin. The dog lifted a brow at him, obviously quite surprised at whatever he said just now and diverted his dark eyes to the group behind him, regarding them curiously before looking back at the parrot. The grin on his orange beak was entirely too wide and cheeky to look innocent, and the dog knew that as he rolled his eyes at whatever the ave had asked him to do.

 

Thanking his friend with a bright laugh, José turned back to the others spreading his arms, „Welcome to the  _barraca_ ,  _Vila Xurupita_. My friend here, Pedrão, is currently making you the best drinks of all of Rio. So, come here sit down and enjoy your drinks. I have to go and greet another friend of mine real quick,“ he said, pointing back towards the DJ table.

„Now, wait a minute lad! Ye can’t jus’ leave us here alone and go off with yer friend!“ protested Scrooge, already raising his cane in agitation.

Zé put his hand on the flailing cane and pushed it back down so that the man could neither hit any unlucky person walking into its path or more importantly him. Grabbing the elderly man by the arm and leading him towards the closest table he sat him down and pushed one of the already finished drinks into his hands, „Here,  _senhor McPato_. I am very sorry, but I have to talk to my friend real quick if I am going to go with you on your trip. I am just going to tell him to meet me tomorrow to talk about the situation-„ at Scrooge’s sharp death glare at his plans, he put his hands placidly up in front of him, „- without telling him too much about where going and what we are doing. But I need him to know so that someone can take care of my sister during my absence.  _Tudo bem?_ “

 

Scrooge looked indecisive, and Donald knew why. It was quite obvious to him that his uncle didn’t feel entirely comfortable in this kind of environment. He may still act and look ‚young‘, but he was still an old man at heart and in mind. He wasn’t used to this much hustle and bustle anymore, with the loud music coming from all sides and throngs of people dancing energetically around the place. The closest he got to these of events were the yearly galas he had to attend for publicity reasons. So, it was understandable that he didn’t really want to lose sight of the one person who knew his way around this place, even if he didn’t really like that person, or more like because he didn’t like him.

Donald stepped up next to them, putting a comforting hand on his uncle’s shoulder, instantly calming the older duck down, and motioned with a head tilt towards the DJ booth for Zé to go to his friend. Zé smiled at him thankfully, „ _Obrigado, meu bem~_. “

And then he was off, waving his way effortlessly through the dancing mass of people and towards the vulture who was bobbing his head to the music.

 

Panchito handed the rest of the drinks out to Donald and Launchpad, before leaning against the barrack and mustering the bartender scrutiny, who in turn raised his brow once more.

„So, mi amigo….“ „Pedrão“ supplied the canine briskly.

„Pedrão, si. What can you tell us about your friend… Zé Carioca?“ Donald snorted at Panchito’s attempt to be subtle about trying to gain as much information about José and his cunning plans as possible. Well, he will give him some points for effort though.

„He tried to play you but you found out didn’t you?“ he asked flatly. At their affirmative nods, the canine could only shake his head and roll his eyes once more, mumbling something beneath his breath in Portuguese before addressing the group once more, „It wouldn’t have been the first time. Mind you that I am not trying to excuse his actions…. But he does do it for a reason. That still doesn’t make up for trying to scam you“ he added hastily at the Mexican rooster’s pointed look.

 

„Yeah, his sister. We know. He told us“ said Donald before taking a sip from his Caipirinha. He moaned in pleased surprise at how good the drink actually tasted. Zé wasn’t kidding when he said these were the best.

Pedrão meanwhile looked astonished at what Donald said, „He told you? He never mentions his sister to anybody outside of our small circle. You know in case someone would try to use her in an attempt to blackmail him.“

His eyes became hard as it was now him who scrutinised the four men in front of him. Scrooge waved his distrustful glare off, „We are not goin’ tae hurt the lad and his wee sister.“

 

It did little to lessen the Brazilian’s glare. That was until four little white feathered whirlwinds came running up to them, dressed in various articles, such as feather crowns, flower chains and shiny jewellery (it calmed Donald instantly when he realised that they were kids jewellery). They were holding several more of those colourful flower chains in their hands which they then promptly threw around the adults' neck with wide, excited grins.

„Where did you get those?“ asked Donald, lifting one of the chains around his neck up in front of him to look at the blue, green and yellow colour combination of flowers.

„A pretty lady gave them to us! She was really nice! Her name was Maria!“ explained Webby as she arranged the decorative accessories around Scrooge’s neck to make him look as festive as she could. Scrooge let her do as she pleased, smiling warmly at the fact that she now felt comfortable enough around him to be her true self, and have fun while playing with him.

Launchpad was completely elated as he was showered with flower crowns by Dewey.

Donald smiled and ruffled his nephews' heads playfully, who protested when their hair feathers became all messed up.

 

Panchito smiled at the cute display of pure family love in front of him. Donald really was good with kids. He acted more like a father than an uncle towards his nephews and that made him all the more admirable to the rooster.

„Alright… I believe you,“ said Pedrão with a sympathetic smile. The family of Ducks and Panchito looked at the canine who asked then asked the kids if they wanted some mocktails. The four agreed of course.

While preparing the drinks, Pedrão continued where he left off, „His sister is very dear to him. To us all actually. Lovely girl. Always nice and helpful, if a little headstrong at times. So, I apologise for instantly suspecting of trying to blackmail them,“ he handed the drinks out to the four ducklings who were already impatiently waiting in front of him, „He is a good man, if a little misguided thanks to his upbringing. He’s a really smart guy and knowledgeable in a lot of things, and while we always try to get him to do an honest job, it is tough for a man of the  _favela_ to get a decent job without any official qualifications.“

„Ah… Aye know how hard tha’ can be,“ grumbled Scrooge, before pulling a face at the sugary taste of his own drink. He rather preferred the less sweet taste of good ol’ Scottish whiskey or gin.

 

Donald hummed, reflecting on what Pedrão just told them. It added to José’s story, and it actually helped to underpin his credibility. However, it could all still be one giant scheme. Since they are good friends, they could all be tied in this together. Donald had already seen and experienced a lot of those ploys in his life to know that he shouldn’t accept and believe such statements that easily. Truth be told though, he already doubted that all of this could be just one giant hustle. José really didn’t seem like the guy who would leave the comfort of his home to chase after some mysterious treasure with a high risk that they won’t even find it, at least if it weren’t for a significant reason, namely his sister.

On the other hand, Donald rather much enjoyed seeing the always so suave parrot trying to win back their favours by bending over backwards to please them, and especially Donald himself. Who said Donald couldn’t enjoy himself on this trip? Usually, it’s him trying to impress everyone around him, more often than not resulting in mixed results. So, it is nice for it to be the other way around for once. And he would relish in it as much as possible.

 

Deep in thought, Donald didn’t realise that the DJ had said something over the speakers until he mentioned Zé’s name, which was quickly followed by the myriad of people cheering his name, making Donald jump in surprise at the magnitude. Turning around he saw said parrot step in front of the mix table, bow dramatically with a wide grin before jumping down from the little stage.

„Show-off,“ scoffed Panchito. Donald chuckled at the rooster’s peeved state, his apparent dislike for the parrot not concealed at all. Yes, he was really going to enjoy this.

 

A few moments later, José appeared back at their side, managing to look still as pristine as ever, even after wrangling himself through a dense crowd of dancing people, „Done! I hope you’ve been enjoying your drinks while I was gone.“

Donald and Launchpad nodded their heads, while Scrooge shrugged his shoulders in disgruntlement. Ignoring Panchito completely, José looked at the children with a growing smile as he saw their colourful accessories.

„I guess you met Maria?“ he asked, looking at Webby who nodded her head as she approached him, giving him a flower chain as well, „ _Obrigado, menina._ “

Looking at her critically he beckoned her closer which she did without any protestation. Taking one of her flower crowns, he quickly put her hair up into a messy bun and tied it together with the chain. He then did some little arranges, mussing it up and pulling out little strands of hair at the side.

„ _Não_ ~ Just like a real  _princesa de flores!_ “

Webby smiled up at him, thanking him.

 

Donald smiled at how happy the girl was. It looked like Webby had taken a real liking to the Brazilian, despite their previous misgivings. His triplets…. Not so much. Looking at the three boys quickly confirmed his assumptions going by their glares they were throwing at the parrot. He just hoped that they would learn at least tolerate him during their trip. If it really were to get out of hand, he would have to talk to them.

 

Suddenly another hand grabbed his own and tugged him towards the dancing mess, resulting in Donald emitting a startled ‘Wuack!’

„Hahaha, come Donal’. Let’s dance!“ laughed José at his comically adorable reaction. Donald shook his head vehemently as the parrot started dragging him further onto the dance floor, „No no no no! Zé, don’t. I can’t. “

„Awww, come on,  _meu bem!_ It will be fun!“ stopping in the middle of the dance José grabbed both of Donald’s hands into his and started dancing on the place, „You did say you would dance with me in exchange for me showing you around Rio~. “

Oh yes… he did agree to that. Pursing his beak at José’s charming smile and wiggling brows, the duck felt the fight leave him. It just…. „I don’t know how to dance the samba,“ he admitted embarrassedly.

But José’s smile didn’t leave, and he drew the aquatic evenly closer, „ _Não há problema._ I’ll teach you. Just follow my instructions. Let’s start slow.“

 

Donald tried his best to follow Zé’s steps, but as he looked at the other dancers moving gracefully around them, he felt so embarrassed about his own clumsy steps. (It also didn’t help that he was hyper-aware of one of José’s hands, that was holding on to his hip and helping him move his hips and guide him in the right direction.)

A yellow feathered hand turned his head carefully back towards their owner, „Hey, don’t look at them. You’re doing well. Just concentrate on me, listen to the music and let your body take over.“

Then José started singing, and Donald simply couldn’t look away, „ _Olha que coisa mais linda mais cheia de graça, é ela menina que vem e que passa, num doce balanço a caminho do mar~_ “

 

So transfixed on the handsome man in front of him, Donald didn’t realise that he completely forgot about paying attention to his footwork and effortlessly followed José’s lead.

They kept on dancing like this through two more songs, with José softly singing and smiling at the duck. Donald was slowly starting to enjoy dancing like this. The slow traditional Brazilian music, José’s beautiful singing, the slow dancing, the cheerful people around them, just the whole atmosphere was so enjoyable that all of his worries and problems seem to fall away. Just letting go for once.

 

And then the pace of the music and that of the dancing picked up with the next song and José grinned as he twirled them both around the floor. Donald laughed as he nearly stumbled once more at the sudden change in position yet he couldn’t care less anymore. He was having too much fun.

 

“See?! You’re getting it,  _meu amigo! Muito bom!_ Step back, forward, left, right~” cheered José, smile wide and as bright as the colourful lights strung up all around them.

Donald didn’t even try to hold back his own grin, happily following José instructions and letting the rhythm of the upbeat Brazilian music lead him. Zé chuckled as both of them made a slide step towards and passed each other, and started singing along to the song once more. His voice loud and clear, even over the now louder music and background noise.

Donald felt so much younger at this very moment. As if he was back in college with his friends, Della and Daisy, celebrating at one of the many frat parties. Almost but not quite. The music here was, obviously, more Latin inspired and he was surrounded by people of all colours, sizes and ages, who all knew how to dance to said songs, instead of just wildly and aimlessly wielding their arms and jumping around the place, making it all the more fun.

 

Outside of the circle of the dancing mass of people, the rest of the family watched the two of them having the time of their life. The triplets had never seen their uncle look so happy, smiling and dancing with José as if without a care for what was happening on around him. Even Scrooge agreed to their inner musings with his next words.

“Aye haven’t seen the lad that merry and carefree for a long time. Aye nearly forgot what his smile looked like” he said in wonderment, though it was apparent that he was content seeing his nephew like this. Even if they had their disagreements, and fought more with each other than exchanging pleasantries, Scrooge still cared about his nephew’s wellbeing.

 

“Zé is a pretty good dancer. And Donald isn’t that bad himself” noted Webby, rocking on the tip of her webbed feet and swaying along to the music. She observed each of their steps carefully and tried memorising them.

Panchito huffed, arms crossed in front of his chest as he watched them with a jealously glint in his eyes, “ _También soy un buen bailarín._ ”

Louie eyed him silently for a few moments, being the only one to have heard the rooster’s unhappy remark. He didn’t need to know Spanish to know what the Mexican was so frustrated about. Looking back over to his uncle and that annoyance of a funky parrot, an idea started to form inside his mind. Putting on his trademark grin of mischief, Louie slid a little closer to Panchito and casually commented, “You know, you could be the one dancing with uncle Donald. You just need to show them that you’re the better dancer.”

Eyes still focused on the dancing pair and not looking at the child, Panchito nodded his head in agreement. Taking off his sombrero and putting it on top of Louie’s head, Panchito marched over towards the pair with a confident “You’re right!”

 

Louie scowled as the too big sombrero slipped down and over his eyes, muttering a low, “Of course I am.”

Huey tugged the sombrero off of his head and handed it over to Launchpad who excitedly put it on top of his own head, not even taking off his cap. Procuring his pair of caxixi out of his pockets he instantly started dancing on the spot. Everyone could just fondly shake their heads at him. The tall duck may be a doofus but that made him so lovable, and he was their doofus.

 

„Why did you encourage him to go and dance with Uncle Donald!?“ hissed Dewey, hitting his brother in the arm. Louie rubbed his arm at the inflicted pain and glared at the middle brother. Before they could get into a full-blown out fight, Huey stepped in between them and held his hands up, „Stop! You fighting won’t help our situation. But I have to agree with Dewey. Why did you do that? I thought we wanted to keep them away from uncle Donald.“

Louie only smirked and nodded towards the dance floor. Together they watched how Panchito stole José’s place as Donald’s dance partner, much to the surprise of their uncle. Zé looked pretty vexed, as if he wanted to clobber him. Huey gaped, finally realising what Louie’s plan was. He held his fist out towards his youngest brother which the other bumped with a calm yet very self-satisfied smile.

Yet his smile slowly slipped from his beak when he noted that his uncle seemed to enjoy the other two trying to fight over him. Why was he enjoying that? Usually, their uncle hated such childish behaviour.

 

„Great idea, Louie. It really seems to work,“ noted Dewey drily. Louie glared at him once more and jumped.

Huey was too slow to stop them this time, and he could only let out an exasperated sigh as he tried to pull the green-clad duckling away from his blue loudmouth of a brother.

 

~~~***~~~

 

Donald couldn’t help but laugh as he watched the two Latinos glare each other down, all fluffed up to look bigger and more intimidating. They looked ridiculous, yet adorably so.

 

„ _Well, look what the cat dragged in. A lousy thief and his new loser friends_ ,“ sneered a raspy voice suddenly next to them and Donald saw how José became tense and all fluffed for an entirely different kind of anger.

The baleful glare he addressed the newcomer with was so disconcerting that it made Donald actually feel a little unsettled himself. The guy, a tall (even taller than Panchito), muscular white feathered rooster with an arrogant smirk on his yellow beak, scoffed at the three of them.

„Ze Galo,“ said José coldly, his calm smile and challenging gaze was gone in an instant, “ _What are you doing here?_ “

The Brazilian rooster shrugged yet did not lose his cocky grin, „ _Maria invited me. Not that it is any of your concern anymore_ ,“ eyeing Panchito and Donald disdainfully, „ _Well at least you have found some guys that look just as pathetic as you._ “

Donald saw both José and Panchito bristle at whatever the taller man said to them, knowing right away that it was an insult.

 

„ _Get lost, asshole_ “ Okay for that Donald didn’t need a translation, and he was astonished that José would actually say something like that. Even Panchito looked startled for a second there.

Ze Galo on the other hand only laughed mockingly at him but marched off anyway. But now before ramming his shoulder against Zé. José glared after him, his neck feathers standing up like pinpricks until he has lost sight of him in the crowd.

‚What an asshole,’ thought Donald.

 

“What a charming fellow... I see why you two are amigos,” remarked Panchito once the other rooster was far enough away from them, with a false smile on his beak. The scowl that Zé addressed him with was so withering that Donald was surprised that Panchito didn’t catch on fire at that very moment.

“We are not. Amigos,” nearly spat the Brazilian, ”He’s more of an unpleasant acquaintance. And even then, I wouldn’t even go that far to call him that. If you think I am a dirty thief, then you really don’t want to get acquainted with him. He’s a dirty, cheap, good-for-nothing, competitive, stupid, copycat of a  _babaca_!”

Donald couldn’t help the short guffaw that slipped from his beak as Panchito mockingly remarked, “I don’t see the difference.”

Yes if the two of them are really going to be at each others' throats like that all the time, then it sure will prove to be an interesting time.

 

~~~***~~~

 

The evening went on, and the trio had found their way back to the rest of Donald’s family and with Pedrão at his  _barraca_ , after their run-in with the notorious Ze Galo. However, the triplets had soon tugged both their uncles away from them and towards an area where some beach games were held. Panchito and José stayed at the bar, opting to just have another drink and watch the family from afar. It was hilarious to watch how competitive Scrooge McDuck got, and it was even more impressive when the elderly duck won most of the games. Much to the chagrin of the young adolescents participating in them as well and who in turn were shown up by an old Scottish duck.

 

José turned around to Pedrão when Nestor joined them as well, thanking his canine friend for the readily offered drink. „ _So, I saw you ran across Ze Galo a while ago_ ,“ commented Nestor with a fake nonchalant air around him, swirling the drink in his glass as he side-eyed his parrot friend.

José groaned at the unpleasant memory. „ _You knew that he would be here, didn’t you? Why didn’t you warn me?!_ “ he nearly whined in semi-anger, slumping his head on the wooden counter.

Nestor smirked as he took a sip. „ _Payback for last week’s scam, my green friend. I still have a few singed feathers because of you,_ “ he raised his brow pointedly at José, causing the parrot to clamp his beak shut with a loud clack. 

Yeah... if he had been in Nestor’s place, he would probably have done the same thing. He could still smell the scent of burnt feathers to this day when thinking back on that disaster of a scam. Though it had not been his fault that it had failed. Not entirely at least.

 

„ _What is it with you and roosters anyway, Zé? Somehow you always manage to get them to hate your guts_ ,“ he said with a subtle side glance at Panchito, who seemingly ignored them in favour of watching over the ducks.

Zé scoffed waving his commentary off as if had personally offended him, „ _They are just jealous they can’t ever be as charismatic as me. Ze Galo is still pissed off about me being a better conman than him and having been with Roshina. And wannabe mariachi over here is jealous because Donald likes me better because of my good looks and charming personality~_. “

Pedrão and Nestor fondly rolled their eyes at their friend’s vain explanation. They were curious about this interesting new development between their green feathered friend and the adorable white duck in the sailor dress shirt. Looking at each other they silently agreed that they would keep a keen eye on Zé to see how that was going to play out, especially with Panchito thrown in the mix.

 

„ _You shouldn’t count your chickens before they have hatched, thief_ ,“ said Panchito suddenly next to him in fluent Portuguese, making José gape at him in shock. Grinning pretty self-satisfied, the rooster continued, „ _You’re not the only one that can be all suave and impressive. You’ve only had the upper hand until now because we’re in your home-town, as you said. But just you wait until we’re in the jungle, then we’ll see who’s going to swoop Donald off his feet._ “

Finishing off his drink with one last sip, never taking his dark amber eyes off of José's maroon red ones, Panchito then turned around and walked off and over to the duck family, leaving a flabbergasted José and his pair of hysterically laughing Brazilian friends behind.

 

~~~***~~~

 

„Hey Panchito, if you’re looking for Donald, Uncle Scrooge has roped him and Launchpad into a game of  _pétanque_ ,“ informed Webby him with a bright smile as the rooster approached her. Panchito chuckled at the imagined picture of that particular game. However, he was far more curious about what the four ducklings were doing, seeing as Webby was equipped with several water guns and water balloons.

„What are you kids playing? A water fight?“ Webby nodded her vehemently, her expression becoming serious as her eyes searched for the three boys hidden somewhere around the less populated area of the beach.

„This is a game of life and death,“ she stage whispered gravely, before asking Panchito cheerily, „You want to watch how I destroy the boys?!“

Panchito could only laugh at her sudden change in attitude, highly amused at the prospect of the sweet little girl chasing around a trio of terrified boys, and nodded in agreement. Yet that was exactly what happened only a few moments later, and Panchito was both concerned about where she learned to shoot as accurately as this, and hilariously entertained at the three drenched boys’ horrified expressions.

 

However, his laughter soon stopped when one of the water balloons went flying sideways before hitting right across the back of a familiar white feathered head with a red comb on top. The other rooster froze as the water splashed across the whole of his back, soaking both his shirt and pants.

Ze Galo swivelled around, face twisted up in outrage as he looked for whoever was responsible for throwing that water balloon. His angered gaze fell upon Dewey, who was the unfortunate duckling that stood the closest to him with one water balloon still raised at the ready in one hand. Trying to make a run for it, Dewey let out a startled quack when a hand grabbed the back of his blue shirt and promptly lifted him up in the air.

 

„ _You stupid brat! You will pay for ruining my favourite shirt!_ “ growled Ze Galo.

„Hey! Let me go, man! We are sorry for hitting you! So, let me go! Uncle Donald!“ screamed Dewey loudly while flailing wildly around in the white feathered rooster’s hold.

„Awww, are you calling for your lousy uncle. How pathetic,“ mocked Ze Galo, giving him a good shake to anger the duckling even more.

 

„ _Hey! Loudmouth, let him go. He is just a child!_ “ yelled Panchito, storming over to the taller rooster with thunder in his eyes. „ _He has done nothing to you! I could get you arrested for raising your hand against a defenceless child!_ “

Webby and the other two-thirds of the triplets were close behind him, glaring at Ze Galo in warning.

Ze Galo scoffed at them but dropped Dewey back on the ground nonetheless. Looking provocatively at Panchito, he sneered „ _You want to start a fight with me, toothpick?_ “

 

Dewey scrambled back over to his two brothers and Webby, who pulled him protectively behind them, aided by Panchito stepping in front of the four as additional protection.

„ _Escucha, hombre_! If you don’t leave right now, you will feel  _very_  sorry  _very_ soon,“ warned Panchito, his usually kind voice now laced with a sharp cold threat.

Ze Galo scoffed, looking down at the slightly smaller rooster with such arrogance that it practically oozed off of him, „Aww are you threatening me,  _anão_? Grow a few more inches, and maybe then we can start talking again.“

 

Oh, Panchito hated such people. People who thought themselves above everyone else just because they thought they were smarter and tougher and simply better than others. He now saw why José hated this guy so much. He really is a  _gilipollas_.

Panchito narrowed his eyes at the taller Brazilian, already balling his right hand into a tight fist, readying himself to punch this _cabrón_ straight in his  _estúpido_ face. But then, before he could even take a swing at him, another fist already beat him to the desired and well-deserved punch _,_ knocking the taller man right off his feet.

Panchito could do nothing else but blink several times in utter confusion as a flash of black and white rushed past him and on top of the stumped Ze Galo. He needed a few moments to realise that it was none other than Donald who was currently kicking the other man into a pulp, while growling, literally growling, „Don’t you ever dare to touch my kids again, you hear me?!“

The larger man tried to throw the much smaller duck off of him but said mallard was really persistent and impressively successful at keeping him pinned to the ground and kick him in the guts.

 

José leisurely strolled up next to Panchito, a wide shit-eating grin on his face as he observed the spectacle in front of them. „Aren’t you going to help your….  _amigo_?“ asked Panchito worriedly, even though he himself had just been about ready to start a fight with the taller man. He pulled a pained face as he witnessed Donald bend Ze Galo’s arms back behind his back too far to be comfortable while pressing one webbed foot down against the arrogant fowl’s temple.

 

„Are you kidding? This is like a dream come true!“ exclaimed José elatedly, his maroon red eyes practically sparkling in admiration, “And you have to admit,  _meu amigo_ , that seeing sweet Donal’ like this is very.....  _excitado_ ~ I mean I wouldn’t mind him holding me down like this~ Who would have thought that he’s so strong?”

The grin that he shot at Panchito was downright lewd, which he then accentuated even more so by wiggling his eyebrows. Panchito rolled his eyes and looked away from the pesky parrot while mentally being very thankful for his red feathers and the low light that allowed him to hide his flushed face. Yes, he did agree with Zé, that didn’t mean however that he openly wanted to admit to it. Boosting the parrot’s ego by agreeing with him is the last thing he wanted right now.

 

Panchito looked over to the kids who didn’t seem at all faced at watching their uncle punch some random guy to a bloody pulp, „And you?“

„There is no stopping Uncle Donald once he gets like this,“ explained Huey as if it was just another fact of life listed in his Junior Woodchuck guidebook, and it probably was.

„It isn’t the first time this happened, and it won’t definitely be the last time either“ added Dewey, nodding his head while doing so. Next to him was Webby, who was occupied with cheering Donald on, supplying him with new manoeuvres every now and then.

Louie, who hadn’t even taken his eyes off his phone during all of this said in his usual casual manner, „Yeah, Uncle Donald is really protective over us. Like way overprotective“ though the short pointed look he gave the two Latinos after, made it sound more like a threat directed at them than Donald being a bother to him.

 

Panchito and José hummed apprehensively in unison as they looked back towards Donald and Ze Galo. Holding his arms protectively up in front of his face, the tall rooster was cowering beneath the much smaller duck’s figure. With one hand clasped into the front of the rooster’s shirt and a webbed foot planted in his chest, Donald really did seem to tower over the other man.

The whole scene made for a really comical picture.

However, Panchito officially took back his words from this morning. Apparently, ducks really could stand their ground and Panchito would never underestimate them again.

 

Scrooge and Launchpad had joined them as well in the meantime and the elderly duck calmly dragged his nephew off of the whimpering rooster.

“Ye’re lucky I don’t drag your bum to court, lad. Never mess with the McDuck Duck family,” he supplied, his displeasure at the other man was barely composed in his voice, before turning back to Donald with a much softer tone,

“I think it’s time to go back to the hotel, me boy.”

Donald huffed but complied with one last glare and growl directed at the beaten-up rooster before ushering his nephews, who were celebrating him for putting the jerk into his place, away.

 

José sauntered over to Ze Galo, smirking down at the man with a grin that could rival the Cheshire Cat’s, “Who’s the loser now, eh?”

Ze Galo growled at him from his spread-out position on the ground but couldn’t do anything more than this and whine in pain.

And with that José joined the family’s said once more, happier than he had ever been as he thanked Donald for putting some sense back into the fowl’s mind.

 

It truly had been an adventurous day today. A day they won’t forget so fast.

 

~~~***~~~

 

It was late at night, and the Duck family had already turned in for the night. It had been a long and exciting day, and a lot had happened on their first two days here in Rio. So much, in fact, that the four ducklings were still lying up in their beds and contemplating the last two days’ events. Fortunately, Scrooge was so merciful and let them have a room on their own instead of pairing them together with their uncle and or Launchpad, or else their uncle Donald would be scolding them by now for staying up past their bedtime.

 

Huey blinked a few times, his dark brown gaze fixed on the white ceiling, as he tried to process everything that he had learned so far. First the exciting scavenger hunt in the museum, finding some of the old transcriptions to translate the map (and now they knew why Uncle Scrooge had so many troubles translating the rest of the map yesterday) and then that whole fiasco with that green parrot of a musician who turned out to be a hustler thanks to Panchito exposing him. Said rooster had then taken it upon himself to cheer their uncle up. And while Panchito was a funny guy and seemed to come across as a rather upstanding person, so had been José at first as well. And after everything that happened yesterday, Huey would make sure not to trust anyone that easily any time soon.

Only for them to then find out that aforementioned scheming parrot could read the ancient scriptures, and that he did all of this for his younger sister (but how sure could they be of that? Well, there was the photo, but with a computer and good photoshop program, you can make some very impressive fake pictures. And the feather could belong to any blue feathered bird. It could even be one of José’s own tail feathers which he pulled out just to have some kind of proof). And then finally this evening at the bar, where their uncle seemed to have the time of his life just dancing and singing alongside the two Latin birds.

But what really got him thinking was his uncle’s uncharacteristic behaviour through it all. First, the smiling, the playful teasing, then looking all dejected when the Brazilian’s plot had been revealed thanks to Panchito, and then his willingness to let the parrot and the rooster accompany them on their adventure. Not to mention his lack of the familiar temperamental outburst to the unexpected kiss that José had planted on him. And of course, the dancing and the singing as if he hadn’t had a care in the world while in the company of José and Panchito. Donald bearing up that white feathered rooster after having picked on Dewey was honestly the only normal thing he had done since meeting the two Latinos.

 

He had never seen his uncle like that, it still baffled him.

Uncle Donald was always just.... that. Their unlucky yet loving, and if a little boring and way too overprotective, uncle. He didn’t do fun or… romance. Even while thinking about it Huey realised just how wrong that actually sounded. In both ways. Their uncle was of course allowed to fall in love and have a relationship, but that whole picture of him being all lovey-dovey with someone else, like those cheesy couples in all those overtly romantic movies or TV shows, was just too weird to think about, and he couldn’t or rather didn’t want to wrap his head around that image.

 

But apparently, he wasn’t the only one to contemplate their uncle’s love life, as only a few seconds later Dewey’s voice sounded up in the too quiet room.

“Hey, Huey?” Huey turned his head towards his younger brother, seeing how Dewey was still reclined in the same position he had been in just a few seconds ago.

“Yes, Dewey?” asked Huey, staring in the very same direction as his older brother.

“Do you also get the feeling that we don’t know as much of our uncle as we thought?“

“Yeah….”

The two oldest of the triplets looked at each other with wide eyes, as they were the only ones to share this sudden loss of comprehension.

 

Webby sat up from her bed on the other side of the room, looking at the triplets with a carefully controlled expression, devoid of any emotions.

„Do you have anything against your uncle dating... especially another man?“ she asked with a whispered and uncertain tone in her frail voice.

Huey and Dewey sat up as well, looking over to their best friend. Despite her trying to look calm and collected her nervousness was quite obvious to them, going by how she was nervously playing with the tail ends of her pink night dress.

The two brothers blinked at her unexpected question and actually had to think over it. Did they? Well, no. It wasn’t the prospect of their uncle being gay or bi or pan or whatever he identified as, or him specifically having a possible relationship with another man, that bothered them. What did bother them was that they just didn’t know about it in the first place.

“No. It’s not that at all,“ affirmed Huey his conclusion, not only to her but for himself, as well „God no, Webby, of course not. It’s the 21st century, everyone should be allowed to love who they want. No matter their gender” assured Huey the concerned girl. Dewey nodded his head along to his older brother’s words before doing a cool pose with his fingers spreading out to either side, “Yeah! Like the older teens say nowadays: It’s the 21st century, everyone is at least a little bisexual.”

Huey shook his head at him silently repeating Louie’s words from the day before about how unintentionally embarrassing Dewey could be.

 

Webby visibly calmed down at their reaffirmation on how they stood towards same-sex relationships. Huey smiled at her in sympathy, remembering how their friend sometimes used to steal glances at Lena when the older girl wasn’t looking, or how she kept gushing on about how awesome and cool she was. So yeah, her innocent crush on her best friend had been quite obvious to them, and it had never bothered them.

 

So, that wasn’t the issue. No, their problem lay in their uncle never having told them or even giving them the impression that he wanted to date someone in the first place. No matter their gender. But why did he never tell them? Didn’t he trust them? Why did he never show them this sassy, playful side of his? Was it because there had never been someone he could grace that flirty side of his with? Or that they knew off? Who knew what he did when they were away at school, adventures or whatever other activities they were currently up to? Heck, the closest their uncle had come to a ‘friendship’ in the nearly past eleven years was with their old babysitter, and that was just out of pure business.

 

Well, there was also Fenton nowadays.... wait. There was Fenton! Huey’s eyes widened at that sudden flash of realisation. Uncle Donald had been spending an awful lot of time with the other duck. Were those meet-ups actually dates? Were they a thing? Did they kiss?!

No, that can’t be true, because Fenton still acted like the lovable and friendly employee working for their uncle Scrooge and not like someone involved in a romantical relationship with their uncle Donald. Though, Fenton had spoken fondly of their uncle the few times Huey had run across him at the Money Bin, obviously appreciating the time he spent together with Donald outside of work. So, could the scientist have a crush on their uncle as well? Only that he didn’t realise his own feelings for the other mallard?

Still, everything of this evoked the question on whether their uncle started hanging around with Fenton just for the sake of having an actual friend, or has their uncle just a thing for Latinos? But, considering everything that he had realised so far and after reanalysing the interactions between José, Panchito, Fenton and their uncle, maybe it was actually the other way around: handsome Latin men having a thing for their uncle Donald. After today, it wouldn’t actually surprise him.

His head was spinning with all those questions, and there were no answers at all to put an end to his confusion and or doubt.

 

„But seriously though…. With everything that happened today and with what we supposedly found out about Uncle Donald…. How sure can we be that we know him at all? I mean… look at how many things he had kept from us for nearly all our lives, Scrooge and his past adventures with him, Uncle Gladstone and Uncle Fethry… the truth about what happened to Mom. How many secrets do you think is he still keeping from us?“ mumbled Dewey suddenly from his left, looking off to the side in resentment.

„Well true“ agreed Huey, though his tone was far calmer and more composed compared to his brother’s irritated one.

„But I think he kept those from us for the very same reasons  _you_ didn’t tell us about Mom and the Spear of Selene,“ he defended his uncle’s probable reasoning behind keeping those things from them.

Dewey’s visibly flinched at his sharp remark. Yes, he was still a little peeved with Dewey for keeping that particular secret from them, but at least the middle brother had learned from it.

 

„Because he wanted to protect you from getting hurt. He loves you, and he would do anything to keep you save,“ added Webby to Huey’s defence over their uncle’s secrets. She met the two brother’s gazes with a wide clear stare of her own, „Maybe…. And because he loves you so much he didn’t want to risk you hating him over something as dating and loving another man? I mean…. For a long time, he had only you… and he would be devastated would you come to hate him.“

Huey and Dewey averted their gaze down at Webby’s though reasoning. It sure did sound like something their uncle would do. But they would never hate him because of something like that. But then again, how would their uncle have known? Maybe he just didn’t want to challenge that risk, reconsidering his unnatural magnetism for bad luck and misfortune.

 

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room for a few moments. That was until it was interrupted by the one duckling that had been silent during the entirety of this conversation that it actually startled the other three ducklings in the room, having assumed that the third triplet had already fallen asleep.

“Do you think uncle Donald is happy?” Louie's voice sounded small and unsure, nearly unintelligible thanks to how he had his back turned towards all of them when he mumbled his hushed question.

Huey sat up straighter and turned towards his youngest brother, concerned.

“What do you mean Louie?” he asked.

“Happy... with us..... Because he hid so much of who he truly is from us for so many years... that I wonder if he is even happy,” it was faint but years of Louie confusing in him had trained Huey to sense the conflicted agglomeration of frustration, anger, fear and sadness in his near quiet tone.

Yet, Huey nor Dewey knew the answer to that question, so they stayed quiet with lowered heads. Huey watched with slumped shoulders how his youngest brother curled himself up even tighter, pulling the sheets over his head to completely isolate himself from everything around him.

 

Since José and Panchito entered their life, Louie had been acting weirdly. All three of them have been unhappy at the two adults' addition to their familial group, especially since they weren’t sure if they could really trust them. But it was very uncharacteristic of Louie to act so excessively on his dislike and jealousy or to even show it openly in the first place. He knew he cared about their uncle, he was their father figure after all, but he didn’t know it ran so deep.

He wanted to go over and hug Louie, to try and comfort him, but maybe it was for the best to let him progress this alone for the time being. He would make sure though to stay close to him from now on.

Shooting one last look at his brother’s bundled up figure he turned to look at Dewey and Webby and said quietly, „Let’s sleep. It has been too long a day, and I am beat.“

The other two agreed with synchronised yawns. And with that, the issue about uncle Donald and his love life is put on hold for the time being, as the four ducklings finally fell into a deep comfortable sleep.

Or at least three did.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And how did you like it?  
> I just couldn't keep it short.
> 
> Translations:
> 
> • menina/garota (pr.) - girl  
> • Além disso (pr.) - besides that  
> • Você veio depois de tudo, seu velho vigarista! (pr.) - You came after all, you old rascal  
> • babaca (pr.) - jerk/asshole  
> • anão (pr.) - shrimp/midget  
> • gilipollas (sp.) - asshole
> 
> Easter Eggs:
> 
> • chapter title - taken from the song 'Hot Wings' from the movie 'Rio' by Jamie Foxx and Will.I.Am (I love that song)  
> • barracas - they do exist in Rio de Janeiro, and each one really does have its own theme  
> • Vila Xurupita - is the neighbourhood of Rio in which Zé lives in the comics  
> • Pedrão & Nestor - Zé's friends in the comics  
> • Maria/Roshina - Zé's girlfriend (here: ex) in the comics  
> • Ze Galo - Zé's rival in his comics  
> • Zé's song - The Girl from Ipanema, a popular song from the 1960s  
> • Panchito speaking Portuguese - his mother is Brazilian so I am pretty sure that he grew up learning both languages
> 
> I hope I managed to portray Zé's friends and Ze Galo somewhat accurately, going with what little information I was able to find about them. 
> 
> HDL angst! (Of course, there would be angst and it's only going to get worse) The triplets', especially Louie's, behaviour towards José and Panchito will play a key role in the following chapters.  
> Webby on the other hand really likes the two Latin Caballeros, and them her. 
> 
> And the bit about Fenton, you can interpret it in two ways: 1. Huey could be right about Fenton's attraction towards Donald or 2. he is just overthinking the whole situation, especially in his confused state of mind. You are free to interpret it whichever way you want. (I am actually thinking about doing a small sequel chapter with Fentonald added to the mix once this story is done.)
> 
> The next chapter will finally mark the beginning of their expedition to the jungle. I am so excited!


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